Flight 437
by avij14
Summary: An NTSB investigator is asked to jump on the investigation of a recent plane crash in the Tennessee mountains. But this isn't just any crash to the investigator. This is personal. This is the investigation of American Airlines Flight 437. (*Disclaimer: This is an AU story, focusing on a character not included in the GA universe but including characters from the GA universe.*)
1. Chapter 1

Flight 437

 _By Aviana Jennison_

 _ **Chapter 1**_

It's another sleepless night for me in this Tennessean hotel room. Across the room, I hear the soft breathing of the little four-year-old girl sharing my hotel room. The little girl, named Avary Harris, will soon become my niece if all goes according to plan. I roll slightly to read the clock on the bedside table, careful not to disturb my roommate, Paige Ouellette, sleeping beside me. I wince as pain shoots through my recently operated shoulder. I sigh, _4:03 A.M._ the clock reads. I continue to stare at the ceiling, trying to quiet my mind enough to finally fall asleep.

On the bedside table, my phone lights up and begins to buzz. _Who would be calling me at four in the morning?_ I think as I debate answering the phone. My eyes widen, _Unless it's the hospital_. I reach the phone and pull it off the charger, only seeing my boss's contact information appear on the screen. Letting out a sigh, I carefully sit up and answer the phone.

"Hello?" I say groggily, trying not to disturb Paige or Avary.

"Hey Aviana," Chuck Daron's voice says through the phone's speaker. "I hope I didn't wake you."

"Nope, I've been up for hours…quite literally," I sigh. I couldn't even remember the last time I slept through the night since everything happened.

Chuck chuckles on the other line. I hear him sigh, as he begins, "I really hate to do this to you Aviana. It's already a week into this investigation, and the team isn't turning up anything about this crash, not even a possible lead. And since you already know more about this crash than any other employee here, I am asking that you jump on this investigation and take over as the lead investigator on American Airlines Flight 437."

I freeze. I tighten my grip on my phone to keep it from falling. I remind myself to breathe as I process the request. _Did he really just ask me to do this?_ I think. I have been on numerous investigations during my young career, from simple mid-flight malfunctions to huge fatal crashes. But never in your NTSB investigator training do they prepare you for something like this. My mind begins to think back to that fateful day.

 _The airport was crowded that afternoon on April 7. People were bustling back and forth trying to find their terminals. Trying not to be swept away in the human current, I tried to see over the people, keeping my eyes peeled for our terminal number._ 36B _, I kept repeating to myself,_ 36B.

" _Found it!" Jacob yelled from behind me._ Darn you tall people _, I thought jokingly to myself. He led the way to the terminal, and prepared to board our plane, a Boeing 767. Unfortunately, our seats were separated due to the limited seat availability when we ordered our tickets. Morganne was seated next to the left wing of the plane, Jacob was almost directly in the middle of the plane, and Danielle and I were next to the right wing. Danielle and I found our seats and texted Paige that we were aboard the plane, the one friend who couldn't make the vacation this year._

"As much as I'm upset I couldn't go, I hope you guys had a great time and a safe flight home," _I got a reply back a few minutes later._

 _I smiled and wrote back,_ "We did, and we will, wish you could have made it!"

"Being a teacher sucks, be glad you changed majors," _Paige sent back._

 _I laughed as I typed back,_ "Well, someone's got to do it!" _An announcement rang over the intercom to start turning off electronic devices for takeoff, so I said goodbye to Paige, putting my cellphone on airplane mode, and got settled in for the almost eight-hour flight home._

 _Within thirty minutes, at around 3 o'clock that afternoon, the plane was taxiing down the runway and in the air just a few minutes later. With my seat belt buckled, a book to read, and a friend to talk to, I was expecting a pleasant flight home despite the length. How could it have gone so very wrong?_

"Aviana?" Chuck questions over the phone. My mind snaps back into reality, again pondering his request. _I really have no other choice, do I?_ I think to myself. _I won't have peace until I find answers, until I know what happened to that plane._

I sigh into the phone. With the most confident voice I can muster, I reply, "I accept your request."

"Great, thank you so much," Chuck responds. I try my hardest to stay focused to everything Chuck was saying about getting me on the case, but to no avail. My stomach felt sick as the reality set in. I barely make out that the team will help me through the entire investigation with anything I needed, but how does that in any way help alleviate the weight of the task before me?

"You still there?" I snap back to reality again at the sound of Chuck's voice.

"Yeah," I respond. "What did you say?"

"I just asked when you would be able to start?" Chuck questions. "We'd like you on the case as soon as possible before leads grow cold."

I sigh. _Realistically, I could start now while I'm here,_ I think. "Give me two days," I respond. "I'm already in a hotel in Tennessee until my best friend gets better and to monitor my shoulder, so I could jump on the crash site for now, and by the time we're ready to take the parts back to headquarters, I will hopefully be ready to head home too."

"Sounds good," Chuck responds with near excitement. "I'll keep you posted on any updates. Thank you for doing this so soon. Let me know if you need anything."

I gulp. "You're welcome. I will, and thank you, Chuck," I say before hanging up the phone. I plop the phone in my lap and rest my face in my free hand. I struggle to keep tears back and fight the urge to run to the bathroom and vomit.

"Hey," I hear a soft whisper beside me. I look down and see that Paige was awake.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," I mutter, looking away as my throat clenches with emotion.

"It's okay," Paige says. She sits up and puts a gentle hand on my back. "What's going on?" she asks.

I sigh. "Chuck just called," I muster with emotion in my voice. "He asked me to take over the investigation of Flight 437."

Paige's face changes from concern to total shock and anger. "Can they legally do that to you?" she asks. "Can they actually ask you that question?"

"Apparently yes," I whisper.

"You said no, right?" Paige says sternly. I look back at her and her face looks mortified. "You said yes!?" she whispers harshly.

"They aren't coming up with any leads and I need answers!" I snip back. "You know I won't have peace until I know what happened to that plane."

Paige sighs. "I know," she says after a long pause. "I just worry what this investigation will do to you." I nod in response. Everything in my gut wants me to say, "I will be okay," but I'm not sure I can convince myself of that statement.

I glance at my watch to check the date. _Today's Sunday,_ I think. _That means…_ "I start on Tuesday," I whisper. "I'll go straight to the crash site and start the investigation there. Hopefully Danielle can come home by the time everything can be taken to our NTSB headquarters."

Paige nods. "And I'll stay with you until you can come home," she states. "I can help you with your shoulder, watch Avary and monitor her leg, go visit Danielle, you have me until you can go home."

"Don't you have to teach and go home to Tara?" I ask concerned, referring to Paige's girlfriend.

Paige shakes her head, "Allison is subbing for me," she answers. "She said she can handle it for as long as I need to be here, and the principle doesn't mind. The kids may miss me, but I can skype in if necessary. This is more important. And Tara completely 100% understands. And if you need any extra help, she offered to come up as well."

I give a small, grateful smile as I feel tears rim my eyes. "Thank you, and tell Tara thank you," I whisper as a tear rolls down my cheek.

"Of course," Paige answers. She looks up at me and holds her arms out and I lean into them as I begin to sob on her shoulder. Though not a hugger, Paige gently wraps me in her arms, rubbing my back as I sob. "We'll get through this," she assures. "You're not going to be alone in this. I love you."

"Thank you, I love you too," I choke as I move my ear to Paige's chest to hear her heart beat. She gently places her hand on my head and strokes my hair. Though my sobs have calmed, tears still trickle down my face as the weight of the past week hits me again like a freight train.

"Why don't you get some rest, kiddo?" Paige asks as she looks down to try and see my face. I simply nod and Paige helps me lie back down, careful not to use my left arm. She pulls me into a hug one last time before she whispers, "Goodnight, I love you." She lies down herself as she pulls the sheet back over herself.

"Goodnight, love you," I whisper back. I feel my body try to drag me into the realm of sleep as my mind tries desperately to keep me awake. I glance back over at Avary, hearing her quiet snores as she slept through the chaos of the past five minutes. I glance back over at Paige and hear her even breaths. I stare at the ceiling again, studying the shadows from the nightlight from the bathroom and making out the fan's shape in the darkness. Finally, my brain lost its battle and I pass out from exhaustion.

* * *

 _Hey guys! This is the beginning of my first Grey's story! Now, as the description hinted at, this isn't a true fanfiction. This story includes Grey's characters and some story lines, but it is a true AU in and of its entirety. Characters die that don't die in the show, characters live that die in the show, and characters will be living in different places. Lastly, the story focuses on a character that is outside of the Grey's universe entirely, but she will become closely linked with a Grey's character, which is why I am posting it here. I have an entire AU written out based on this story line and characters, and I plan to post more stories depending on the success of this story. But I hope you guys like it and I will post more chapters soon!_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

 _The plane was rocked by yet another gust of wind. I felt it completely turn on its side before beginning to plummet to the ground, spinning on its way down. Danielle, not having her seat belt on, started to fling to the back of the plane, but I grabbed her hand just before she went out of reach. "Danielle, don't let go!" I screamed. The passengers were in total panic, several flying toward the back of the plane as we descended. I knew that if the pilots didn't pull us out of this spiraling fall, we would be dead on impact. I clutched Danielle's hand tighter, praying silently as my heart pounded in my chest._

 _The plane was hit with yet another wind gust as we descended, and I felt my shoulder pop out of socket. I yelped in pain, instinctively letting go of Danielle's hand briefly before realizing what I did. "No!" I screamed as Danielle was thrown to the back of the plane. With nothing to keep her in place, I knew she would be thrown all around the plane, and if we survived, internal injuries could be a serious problem. I felt a tear trickle down my face before I even noticed I was crying. Every important person flashed in my mind's eye as I was engulfed by memories. All of my family, all of my friends, all the good times I've had, all the bad times I struggled through. Tears continued to fall as we got closer and closer to those mountains. I squeezed my eyes shut as I thought,_ This is it. We're going to die.

 _Finally, the plane righted itself, and the pilots got the plane back under control. I glanced outside, and before I could breathe a sigh of relief, I saw mountains right outside the window. I felt the pilots trying to make the plane climb, but it was no use. I felt a sudden jerk of the plane, before I felt the impact of the 767's left wing against the side of the mountain, my head flew back against my seat, and everything went black._

My eyes shoot open as I sit up in my bed panting. My eyes dart around the room, orienting myself to my surroundings. _Hotel room, Tennessee, Avary, Paige, safe,_ I say to myself as I try to calm my breathing. I feel pain shoot through my shoulder again as I obviously moved my arm in a way I shouldn't have. I gently run my hand over the cast of sorts trying to hold my shoulder in place. I glance at the clock, _3:31am_ it reads. _And once again, a nightmare woke me up in the wee hours of the morning._ But this time, the nightmare didn't end when I woke up. I feel my chest tighten as the realization hits me that it all begins today. In just a few hours, I take over the investigation of American Airlines Flight 437.

"This nightmare will never be over until I know what happened to that plane," I whisper to myself. I glance back down at Paige to make sure I hadn't woken her. I sigh as I carefully lay back down in an attempt to go back to sleep. But as per usual, sleep is never found. I rub my eyes, feeling the puffy bags from several sleepless nights like this one. _I don't think I have gotten a full night's sleep since that crash,_ I think to myself as I stare at the ceiling. I close my eyes in an attempt to fall back to sleep, but all that I can think of is the investigation. After thirty minutes of attempts to fall back to sleep, I resign myself to consciousness.

I carefully sit up in bed. I glance back at the clock on the bedside table. _4:13am_ the clock reads. _I don't even have to start getting ready to leave for another hour and a half,_ I think to myself. _Maybe I'll take a walk to try and clear my head._

I quietly and carefully change out of my pajamas, hissing in pain with the movements of my shoulder. I slip on some flip-flops, pop some pain meds and head to the elevator to go down to the hotel lobby. I check my pockets for my room key as the elevator door opens to the lobby. I quietly walk outside, looking around and keeping my eyes peeled for movement. _Knoxville, Tennessee is rather quiet at 4am,_ I think to myself. I continue to walk for almost an hour before I head back to the hotel. When I open the room door, I am greeted by almost all of the lights on in the room and a very panicked Paige.

"Where were you?" Paige almost shouts at me.

"I went on a walk to clear my head," I respond. "Is that a problem?"

"It is when I wake up at 5:30 in the morning and you're missing!" Paige yells. She runs her hand through her hair as she says, "I was calling you and you left your phone here and I had no idea where you went and I was worried sick about you. Don't ever do that again."

"Yes ma'am," I sigh. I walk to the bathroom and begin to get ready for work. "I'm sorry I worried you, I just needed some fresh air to clear my head."

"Are you sure you should be doing this?" Paige asks. "You've been so stressed since you just accepted the investigation. You haven't even started yet."

I shake my head. "No," I answer, "but I know I won't be okay until I know what happened to that plane." I turn on the shower to heat up the water so I can shower before work. I walk out into the hotel room, numbly pulling my uniform out and clothes to put on after my shower. I feel Paige's stare but I don't have the mental energy to acknowledge it.

I am broken from my numb state by a soft, "You're back Aunt Ana?" from little Avary. She is sitting in her bed, cuddling a stuffed bear Paige bought her. "Aunt Paige was weally worried bout you."

I give her a small smile and sit down on the bed next to her. "Yeah, I'm back sweetheart. I just went for a walk." I give her a hug as I start to head for the shower.

"Aunt Paige said that you had something really important going on today," Avary said softly. "She said you were worried about it."

"Yeah, I am a little," I answer. "But I will be okay." I give her a small smile and another hug before saying, "I have to go take a shower now. Be good for Aunt Paige." I walk into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I take off my clothes and get in the shower, letting the hot water hit my skin for several minutes before I begin washing. I finish my shower and hop out, drying off and wrapping a towel around my hair and body before opening the door to let the steam out. I brush my teeth before I begin to put on my make up on. I towel dry my hair before getting dressed and pulling my hair into a braid.

I step out of the bathroom to grab my shoes and my work case. "Do you need a ride to the crash site?" Paige asks as she looks up from her laptop at me.

"No, Chuck is going to come pick me up," I respond as I slip on my flats. "But thank you though." I feel my phone buzz as I look down and see a text from Chuck. "Speaking of, he's here." I grab my briefcase, phone, and room key as I start to head for the door. "Call me if anything comes up. I won't have my phone on me the entire time, but I will have it in the main station and someone will let me know if there is something important going on."

"I will," Paige answers. "Be safe and call me if you need anything. And let me know when you're on your way back."

"I will," I say as I walk out the door. "Love you."

"Love you too," Paige says before I shut the door and walk down toward the lobby. I walk out to the parking lot where Chuck is waiting for me in his black Volvo. I open the back door and set my stuff down before sitting in the front seat, buckling in as Chuck backs out and drives out towards the crash site. Chuck didn't make an attempt at conversation, for which I was thankful. He just hands me a document with details of what they already knew about the crash. The document was exceptionally short for a week-long investigation, to which my heart sank. _This is going to be even harder than I thought_ , I say to myself.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

About an hour after leaving the hotel, we arrive at the crash site. Chuck walks along beside me as we climb up to where the crash was, making sure I didn't fall or injure my shoulder again. I tense immediately upon seeing the plane. The light of day accentuates the calamity of the crash and the devastation it caused. I cautiously walk closer to the plane, my chest tightening with anxiety. I walk over to a tree and lean back against it in an attempt to calm myself down. That is, until I look down at the ground and a gasp catches in my throat. _Blood,_ I think to myself as I cover my mouth with my hand.

 _I wasn't sure how long I had been asleep when I was startled awake by another coughing fit from Danielle. She was hunched over, her coughs raspy and dry, and she barely able to catch her breath. I tried holding her up with my good arm, Jacob soon sprinting over to help steady her. I could feel her body tense against me, and I looked down to see that she was now throwing up blood. My eyes widened in fear as I tried to carefully rub her back with my bad hand, trying not to move my shoulder. Danielle finally stopped coughing, and Jacob sat her up, only for her to fall limply against me. My heart sank, before I heard her quiet and shallow gulps for air. Suddenly, her hand grasped at her chest as her face grimaced in pain. "What's going on, Dee?" I asked her worried._

" _M-my heart," Danielle responded. "It hurts." I felt a tear splash onto my arm, and I quickly realized what was happening._ Her lungs are so full of blood, that her body is not getting enough oxygen. _I glanced down at her face, and I could see that she was sweating, and I gently wiped the sweat off her forehead. My eyes widened as I saw just how pale she was._ She really is bleeding to death internally. God, we need help now!

"You alright?" I hear a voice ask. I am broken from my train of thought as I meet the eyes of a blue haired girl, not much older than I am. _She's clearly one of the investigators_ , I think to myself as I respond to her question with a nod. "You sure?" she questions.

I sigh, "It's all overwhelming at the moment."

"I can imagine," the girl responds. "Chuck told me your story. I can't believe you accepted this investigation."

"I just need answers," I reply.

The girl nods. "I'm Chloe Price," she says as she sticks her hand out in greeting. I shake it as she says, "When they weren't getting any leads, they pulled me from the Pacific Region team to help out."

"That makes sense why I've never met you before," I say with a small smile.

"So what happened to the plane when it went down?" Chloe asks. "If you think you can talk about it?"

I nod, "The plane had gone off course and the pilots began to turn the plane to get it back on course. It was over the mountains and there was a snow storm at this point. As the plane was turning, it kept getting hit with turbulence, each time, the plane tilt at a slightly sharper angle until…" I pause and take a breath, "U-until it started plummeting and spinning."

Chloe cautiously puts a hand on my shoulder. "Take your time," she says gently. "What happened after that?"

"The pilots eventually leveled the plane before it crashed into the mountains, but because the plane was already inside the mountain range, they didn't have enough time to get the plane to climb before the left wing hit the side of the mountain." I look at the plane and then turn my head towards the wing further off. "That's all I know for a fact," I say. I point towards the wing off in the distance, "But my guess is that the plane hit the mountain and slid to a stop."

Chloe nods. She looks between the plane and the ripped off wing. She pulls out a pad of paper and begins to make notes, "So I guess that gives us a couple leads." She taps the pen to her lips as she thinks. "The wind could have pushed the plane out of the sky, as the plane tilted more every time it was hit by a gust of wind. Now the real question is, why did the pilots not correct the plane?"

"Could be a few things," Chuck says as he walks up behind us. "The pilots may not have been paying attention, which seems unlikely as they would have been making adjustments to get the plane back on course."

"Maybe they were so busy getting the plane back on course that they didn't notice the sharper tilt until the plane started plummeting?" Chloe suggests.

"That also seems unlikely since every survivor I've talked to said that they noticed the tilt," Chuck counters.

"So that leaves us with the fact that something prevented the pilots from correcting the plane," I state.

"That would seem the most likely," Chuck began, "except what would have prevented them?"

"Let's retrieve some of the key components to send to the lab for testing," I state. "If it hasn't been sent already, I want the black box and cockpit voice recorder to be sent to the lab so we can evaluate the data from that. That will also give us flight data and can let us know what the pilots were doing and potentially if any controls failed."

"The black box and cockpit voice recorder have already been sent to the lab," Chuck stated.

"Then I want all the hydraulic systems sent to the lab as well," I add, "especially the servo valve in the rudder. And then we can look into the weather patterns for that night. I want to know wind speeds and directions for that night as well as air temperature."

"There's my investigator," Chuck smiles as he pats my shoulder. My jaw clenches as he continues, "Doug will pull up the weather patterns over at the main station. For now, I want us to go look at the left wing." He waves for Chloe to join us as we begin to walk toward the wing. I feel anxious again as I scan the area. As scary as a crash is to see at night, the daylight reveals the damage and makes it all the more emotional.

We reach the wing within five minutes. My chest tightens as we stand next to a few of the seats that ripped off with the wing. Chuck turns to me and says, "I just wanted you to confirm something for me. See how curved the wing is?" He points to the middle of the wing and I nod. "I have no earthly idea how it passed inspection if the wing was that curved before takeoff, but I just want you to confirm that it was not that curved before the crash as you saw the plane before it took off."

I shook my head as I reply, "No, it wasn't that curved before it left Los Angeles. It must have bent when it crashed." I glance down to the seat I'm standing next to and freeze. "D118" the seat number read. The seat is covered in dried blood and I feel the color leave my face.

Chloe glances over at me, but I barely notice. "Hey, you okay?" she asks as I slowly crumple to my knees. Chuck and Chloe yell as they try to catch me and prevent me from falling on my shoulder.

 _Using my phone's flashlight, I searched the ground for any sign of Morganne. My chest tightened in worry as there still was no sign of her. I approached the wing, about a half mile from the rest of the wreckage. I looked at the seats, a few covered in blood. With a shaking hand, I shined the flashlight over the seat numbers. I froze as I read the seat number "D118"._ Morganne's seat, _I thought. My stomach twisted in a knot as I examined the seat some more. Blood covered the seat, and the seat belt was torn a few inches from the buckle. Still, she was nowhere to be found. I prayed that somehow, she miraculously survived. My reason told me otherwise._

 _I scanned the mountain side for any sign of life. My flashlight landed on a figure about 50 feet down the side of the mountain. Nervously, I crawled down there, careful not to use my arm. As I got closer, my throat tightened in fear, as I realized that the figure was Morganne. I crawled over to her and gasped at what I saw. She lay in an awkward position, as it was likely she fell down the mountain once her seat belt was cut. She had lacerations all over her, including a deep one in her thigh. I laid my hand on her stomach, only to feel something hard and rough. I gently lifted her shirt to see that she had been impaled by a tree branch. Shaking, I gently pulled some of her long, dark curls away from her neck. Her face was pale, even for her, and her skin felt cool to the touch. That's when I noticed her eyes. They were open, and the beautiful grayish blue that they once were was replaced by a dull grey, depleted of any sort of emotion or life. Shaking still, I gently placed my fingers on her neck, but there was no gentle thump against them. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks and the voice in my head kept telling me of the reality that was before me. Morganne was dead._

 _I was so consumed by shock that I couldn't form coherent thoughts or even cry. All I could do was shake as I sat beside her, gently cradling her head in my lap. I closed her eyes, and gently brushed her hair out of her face. I let the sting of reality sink in, that one of my best friends, even someone I would call a sister, would not be coming home. All of her plans,_ our _plans even that we would do as friends, they all would never happen. And I completely broke down in tears._

"M-Morganne," I mumble as I look around and realize I'm not by the wing anymore, but rather in the investigation tent near the plane. I glance down to see I'm lying across three folding chairs.

"Hey, welcome back to the land of the awake," Chloe says as she walks over. She helps me sit up and takes a chair next to me. "Chuck asked me to stay with you to make sure you were okay. He didn't know if you had a bunch of pain in your shoulder or a reaction to any medicine or anything."

I shake my head, "Just another flashback," I mumble. "Are they almost done with the weather analysis?" I ask, still looking down at the ground.

Chloe shakes her head, "They should be done in a few minutes though." She looks at me with compassion as she gently says, "I know I literally just met you today and I have been all up in your personal business, so if I'm getting too pushy, just let me know."

"It's okay," I smile slightly. "It's actually nice to finally have another girl on the team. It's rough being the only girl sometimes."

"I feel that!" Chloe laughs. "But do you mind if I ask…who's Morganne? You kept muttering her name when you were waking up."

I take a breath, "S-She was one of my best friends…and she died…" My voice trails off before I can finish my thought. I take another breath, desperate to keep my composure.

"Oh my God," Chloe breathes. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," I say with a small shrug. I wince from the movement in my left shoulder.

Chloe pauses for a few moments, studying me as she asks, "So, why are you still in Tennessee? Chuck said you were from Florida, but you were still in a hotel room and that's why you got started so quickly."

I take a breath. "Another one of my best friends is still in the hospital. She is getting better, but she has severe injuries. That and there was a little girl who was orphaned that she rescued and bonded with, and she wants to adopt her when…if she gets out of the hospital." My voice gets quiet as I hang my head again.

"If?" Chloe asks softly.

"The doctors say she's doing better…but she's still in critical condition. They're hopeful…but she might…m-might not…" I notice a tear trickle down my cheek before I realize I was crying. I feel my body shake with silent sobs as Chloe puts a gentle hand on my back.

"I'm so, so sorry," she whispers as she slides her hand to my good shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze. "I know what it's like to lose a friend. Do you have anyone here at all to help you?"

I nod as I wipe my eyes, "Yeah, my roommate and best friend, Paige, has been here to support me and help with Avary, the little girl, and my shoulder. She also offered to take Avary to her follow ups on her leg and to go check in with Danielle at the hospital during the day and keep me posted. Her fiancée, Tara, has also offered to come up and help until I can come home."

"Good," Chloe says, still gently rubbing my back. "I know you literally just met me, but let me know if you need anything, okay? I'd be more than happy to help."

I nod as I meet Chloe's eyes. "Thank you," I say genuinely.

"You're welcome," Chloe smiles. Her blue eyes study me as she continues to rub my back. Though I'm not one to generally like strangers touching me, I welcome the comfort from Chloe. _She already seems like she'll be a good friend_ , I think to myself.

"Hey you two, the weather analysis is done," Chuck yells as Chloe and I stand up and walk over towards the computers. Doug, the one in charge of the meteorologist side of the investigation, pulls a report from the printer.

"It looks like the wind was blowing northeast, the same direction as the plane. It was blowing at-" Doug stops as I hear my phone begin to ring. I look apologetic as I glance at my watch to see who the caller is. "Paige" flashes on the watch screen and my heart sinks.

"Sorry, I have to take this," I say as I pull my phone from my pocket and answer it. "Hey, what's going on?" I immediately say into the phone.

"I hate to ask this of you, but I need you to come back," Paige responds. "There are case workers and DCF officials outside our hotel room, and they want to know about Avary."

My heart sinks and my stomach twists. "What do they want to know?"

"They just opened her case after learning that her parents were killed. They don't have a will, so they are looking for viable family members to take her. They want to know why she's with us, and I tried to explain, but they want to talk to you as your name is on the file for who is in charge of her currently."

I run a hand through my hair, pulling some of it out of my braid. "I'll be there. Tell them I'll be a little while, but I'll be there."

"Thank you," Paige says gratefully. "And I'm so sorry I had to call you back."

"It's okay, it's not your fault. I'll see you soon." I hang up the phone as I turn back towards Chuck, Chloe, and Doug. "I hate to do this guys, but something came up with the little girl that's with me. I have to get back to my hotel room, but I can come back tomorrow."

Chuck sighs, "It's okay, Aviana."

"I can call an Uber if that would make your lives easier?" I offer.

"I don't mind taking her back if that's okay with you Chuck?" Chloe states. "That way you can focus on the weather analysis."

Chuck nods as he waves us off. Chloe grabs her keys as I carefully stuff my briefcase with files to review and follow Chloe to her car. I thank her again as I plug the hotel's address into her phone as she begins to carefully make her way down the mountain and towards the road.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

"So what's going on with the little girl?" Chloe asks. "Avary right?"

I nod. "I guess she got a file created with DCF since she's an orphan. And now they're trying to go through all the stupid procedures about finding family members and why we have her and what not." I sigh as I bitterly say, "One thing you'll learn about me is that I hate DCF and the foster care system in general. I have dealt with them before, I have been so deeply hurt because of them, and now I hate them."

Chloe nods, glancing at me and seeing the hurt and anger in my eyes. "Noted," she says simply, not wanting to push me.

"Sorry for that little outburst," I sigh, trying to calm myself down. "So what about you? What's your story?"

"Well," Chloe sighs, glancing at the GPS on her phone, "it's not exactly a pretty story. I'm from a tiny town in Oregon. Life was fine until I was fourteen. Within days of each other, my best friend tells me she's moving to Seattle and my dad is killed in a car accident. I was alone for almost four years…it was really rough. I went through some awful stages, especially after my mom married my stepfather, who I only now have a positive relationship with. I met a girl at a party I really shouldn't have been at. She went to my school, but she never really talked to me until the party. And we became really close. A year later, she went missing and I did everything I could to find her, but to no avail. Six months later…" she pauses, and I look at her and notice tears running down her cheeks. "Six months later, I finally see my best friend again after she moved back to Oregon for school. Only…only for her to die minutes later saving me from a psycho who goes to her school. Shortly after, they found my other friend's body…who too had been killed by the psycho. I kind of hit rock bottom after that. I almost killed myself…like I actually swallowed a bottle of pills and my mom just managed to get me to the hospital in time. But after that, I kind of turned around a bit. I wanted to be an investigator of some sort and help people find closure, like I never got about my friend. And I've always been really interested in planes, so I figured, 'Hey, why not investigate plane crashes?' And so I did."

"Wow," I breathe, "You're officially the strongest person I have ever met. How did you survive all that on your own?"

"I almost didn't," Chloe states. "I guess I was able to throw my anger and grief into my rebellion as a kid and that worked for a while. I had hope that one day, I'd actually see my best friend again, and for some time, I had my friend. That's actually how I ended up with the blue hair. My mom absolutely hated colored hair, and so I went all out. But I fell in love with the blue, and I've stuck with it ever since."

"I think it looks good on you," I smile. "It matches your eyes really well."

"Thank you," Chloe says shyly. _Is she blushing?_ I question as she continues, "I usually wear a beanie, but I don't when I'm investigating. It's not 'professional'." She uses air quotes and I laugh.

"What are people's problems with hats?" I ask jokingly. "I was originally an education major, and you weren't even supposed to wear hats to class!"

"Seriously?!" Chloe exclaims, turning from the road briefly to give me a shocked expression.

"Yeah!" I respond. "It didn't stop Paige though. She still always wore hats to class unless she had practicum!"

"Sounds like Paige and I would get along then," Chloe laughs. She pulls into the parking lot of the hotel as she gasps, "This is actually the hotel I'm staying in! I thought the drive seemed familiar."

"Really?" I ask surprised. "Maybe we could save Chuck a trip and carpool in the mornings?"

"Yeah, that would totally work!" Chloe says with a smile. She pulls up to the door and unlocks the car. "Hope everything works out with Avary," she says as I clumsily gather my things.

"Thank you, I do too," I say as I open the car door. "And thank you again for bringing me back."

"No problem," Chloe responds. "It was nice talking with you. See you in the morning." I shut the door and wave as Chloe drives off. I turn and immediately rush toward my hotel room. I open the door to find two DCF workers, a white man with short brown hair and a woman with glasses and black, shoulder-length hair, huddled around Avary who looks terrified.

Paige notices me and walks over as she says, "Oh thank God you're here!" The commotion causes the male DCF worker to glance up and stare at me.

"Oh good, you're here," the woman says as she walks over to shake my hand. "It's nice to meet you Ms. Jennison. I'm Gloria Hanson, and I am the case manager for Avary's case." Pointing to the man, she continues, "And this is my supervisor, Ryker Mason. We're from the DCF office in Florida."

"Nice to meet you," Ryker says without looking up from the notes he's taking.

"So can you tell me a little about Avary, and why you have her?" Gloria asks after she gestured for us to sit down on the bed.

"Avary was involved in the crash," I say as I wrap my arm around Avary. "My friend Danielle rescued her, but she was injured herself. She's currently in the hospital. Because Avary's parents died in the crash, Danielle offered to take her in and adopt her since Avary couldn't name any family members that she knew that she could live with."

"You don't have a grandma or grandpa or aunt or uncle you could live with?" Gloria asks as she looks down at Avary. Avary simply shakes her head "no".

"But…" I start to say, before pausing to take a breath and push down the emotions, "because the doctors aren't sure what will happen to Danielle, if she can't adopt Avary, I am willing to." I look down at Avary and give her a gentle squeeze.

Gloria jots down some notes before looking back up at me and saying, "Well, as she's from the state of Florida, it is mandatory for us to do a-"

"Diligent search for family members, I know," I interrupt. Gloria looks surprised as I add, "My parents foster. My sister's adopted. I know the system, I know the drill." I sigh as I glance down at my knees.

"Well," Gloria begins again, "then you know that once that has been taken care of, you can be considered for adoption. As there are no parental rights to terminate, this is strictly an adoption case. We've approved her staying here for the time being, but we will have to get a home study done on your home, or your friend's home, before she can live there." I nod as Gloria jots down some notes and looks above her glasses to say, "Can you tell me a little about Avary's health? I see her leg is in a cast."

"Yes," I begin. "Her leg was pinned under a chair in the crash. The bone broke, and she had a puncture wound from the broken chair. The doctors are worried about infection, but they went ahead and cast the leg so the bone could heal. The cast will have to be on for at least 2 months, but they will transfer her to a doctor at home if we can leave before then. And they said to bring her to the E.R. if she spikes a fever or starts vomiting." I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder as I finished my sentence, moving my good arm from behind Avary to rub the injury.

"And you're prepared to do whatever she needs to help her recover, despite your own injury?" Gloria asks as she continues to jot down notes.

"Yes," I answer. "And I have help where I need it. My friend Paige is the one who let you in, and she and her fiancée have been more than willing to help me while I recover."

"Good, good," Gloria mutters as she finishes her notes. She stands up and begins to gather her things. "Well thank you for talking to me." She pulls out two cards and hands them to Paige and me. "Here are mine and Ryker's numbers. Call us if you need anything. We'll keep you posted on what's going on with the case and call us when you are looking like you can move so we can get the home study done as soon as you get home."

"Thank you, we'll be in touch," I say as I lead them to the door. I shut the door behind me and give a long sigh as I glance at Paige. "And so it begins," I mutter with another sigh.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

It has been a week since I started on the investigation. The investigation team has been focusing on finding key items to send to the lab to be investigated and tested. There isn't much data to collect, just pieces to identify and information to file to prepare the case to be sent back to headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida.

Chloe has been a little bit of my rock through this whole process. Besides just transporting me to and from the crash site, she has been supporting me as I struggle through this case. She, along with Paige, have been the reasons I can get through this case.

Danielle is also improving in her health. She has been eating and drinking, and the doctors have slowly been working on her walking. They believe that with how she's progressing, she may be able to go home within the next few weeks. Much to Avary and my delight.

It's Monday morning, and I am getting ready to head out to the crash site once again. As I'm finishing the last few strands of my braid, I hear commotion coming from the bedroom. I rush out to see Paige holding a trash can under Avary's mouth as the girl vomits into the trash can. My eyes widen as Paige looks at me with a worried expression. "She just started throwing up," she says.

Avary looks up at me as she breaths heavily. "I don't feel so good, Aunt Ana," she whimpers before again vomiting into the trash can.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," I say as I place a hand on her forehead. My eyes widen as I look at Paige and say, "She's running a fever…a high fever." We stare at each other in worry before I say, "We have to take her to the emergency-"

A knock at the door brakes me from my train of thought. I rush to open the door to see Chloe standing there, like she always does before we head out to the crash site. "Hey, are you ready to go?" Chloe asks.

"I can't go today," I say, my voice full with worry. I turn to begin gathering things we need to take to the hospital.

"Why not? What's wrong?" Chloe asks, sensing my worry.

"Avary's throwing up and is running a fever," I say as I throw some clothes for Paige, Avary, and me in a bag. "We're taking her to the emergency room," I add as I grab Avary's bear and toss it in the bag.

Chloe's eyes widen. "Do you think it's her leg?" she whispers with worry, not wanting to alarm Avary. I look at her and nod, blinking away tears I didn't even realize were there. _I can't lose Avary, she has to be okay_ , I say to myself. Without being asked, Chloe goes to take the trash can from Paige and says, "I've got her if you want to get your car and bring it to the entrance." Paige nods as she grabs her keys and takes the packed bag from me.

After glancing through the room to assure myself that I remembered everything, I look over at Avary and sit down next to her. "Hey," I say softly as I put a hand on her back, "we're going to take you to the doctor. We're going to find out why you don't feel good." Avary nods as I look at Chloe and say, "If you can carry her down, I can get the doors." Chloe nods as I grab my purse and room key and open the room door. Chloe carefully scoops up Avary and follows me to the entrance of the hotel. There, Paige is already waiting for us. Chloe straps Avary in as I open the passenger door and toss my purse onto the front seat.

I turn to Chloe. "Thank you," I say as I throw my arms around her in a hug.

"Of course," Chloe says as she returns the hug. "And I'll let Chuck know what's going on. Keep me posted and call me if you need anything." I nod as I release the hug and turn to get in the car and shut the door. Before I can buckle my seat belt, Paige is speeding towards the hospital.

Within minutes, we arrive at the emergency room of the hospital. Paige pulls her car up to the door and I jump out to grab a wheelchair. Paige unbuckles Avary and gently scoops her up and sits her in the wheelchair. I grab the bag and hang it over the handle of the wheelchair as I carefully wheel her into the emergency room with my free hand.

"I'm going to go park the car, I'll meet up with you as soon as I can," Paige says as she shuts the back door. I nod before she sits in the driver's seat and takes off.

It wasn't long after I got Avary signed in before we were taken back to a room. Paige met us at the room and we did our best to keep Avary calm. It wasn't long before a female doctor with dark, medium length hair and olive skin walks in. "What do we have here?" she asks as she looks at Avary's chart. Her eyes widen as she turns to Avary and says, "Well hey there Miss Avary! You remember me? I was the doctor who fixed up your leg." Avary smiles and nods at the doctor, and I'm relieved to know that the familiar face brings the little girl comfort. The doctor turns to me and says, "I'm Dr. Torres, I'm the chief of orthopedic surgery here at the hospital. I operated on Avary's leg."

She sticks out her hand and I shake it as I respond, "Nice to meet you. I'm Aviana Jennison, I'm Avary's…foster mom. For sake of confusion."

Dr. Torres looks a little confused, before glancing at Avary and back up at me, "How's she doing?" she asks.

"She had been doing pretty well until today," Paige states. "She started throwing up this morning, and Aviana noticed she had a fever."

Dr. Torres nods before whispering to me, "Is that your girlfriend?"

I chuckle before responding, "No, she's just my best friend. She came up to help me with Avary since I was struggling to after my shoulder surgery, and then she's been watching her while I go to work. I'm an NTSB investigator."

"So you're working on the big plane crash?" Dr. Torres asks. I nod before she states, "I didn't have anyone on it, but that crash brought back bad memories for me. My wife and best friend were on a plane crash a year ago and they both died." She sighs, staring at Avary's vitals for several seconds before looking back up. "Her white blood count is extremely elevated," she states. She looks at me before saying, "I'm going to have to take the cast off and examine the wound. Can you two hold her hands? If it's what I suspect, it's probably going to hurt." Paige and I nod as Dr. Torres puts on a pair of gloves and grabs a cast saw to cut off the cast. I feel Avary tense in fear, and I switch hands to hold hers with the hand coming out of the sling, while the other strokes her hair to comfort her.

After what felt like hours, the cast was finally off. I notice the concern in Dr. Torres's face as I look down at Avary's leg. The majority of the leg below the knee is discolored or bright red. Dr. Torres gently puts a hand near the wound and Avary whimpers, and the doctor lets up. "Sorry sweetheart, I know it hurts," Dr. Torres says as she finishes her examination. She looks up at me as she takes off her gloves and asks, "Can I speak with you for a moment outside?" I nod as I follow the doctor into the hallway.

"This is going to be a lot to take in, but I need you to listen to me carefully," Dr. Torres says. I study her face, trying to get a read on her expression but I can't get one.

"What's going on?" I ask concerned.

"This is exactly what I was worried would happen if we cast the leg," Dr. Torres says with a sigh. "I knew that if we didn't cast the leg, there would be nothing to keep the bone stable and if it healed wrong, it could cause problems for her later on. But I was worried that by casting the leg, it would allow infection to grow, especially from that puncture wound. And that's exactly what happened. There was nothing you did wrong, there is nothing you could have done better, but because of the elements that the wound was exposed to before she was rescued, there would have been no way to prevent the infection. But because she didn't show symptoms before now, the infection has gotten bad enough that without treatment, she will go into septic shock and die…potentially within the next twenty-four hours." My eyes widen as I stare at the doctor, her face full of sympathy and concern.

"So what do we do?" I ask, hearing the emotion in my voice.

"We'll have to do a below the knee amputation," Dr. Torres states.

My heart sinks and I instantly feel nauseous. "There's nothing else we can do?" I ask, almost pleading. Dr. Torres sympathetically shakes her head "no".

The doctor sighs. "My wife had a similar injury when she was in her plane crash. She did so many things, she loved to dance and skate…she was a peds surgeon and she would wear wheelies to work and skate around the peds floor when she would check on patients. So she made me promise not to take her leg. And…" Dr. Torres's voice broke with emotion. "The infection in her leg caused her to go into septic shock. I was in surgery so I couldn't do anything, but by the time I was finished…she was gone. And the exact same thing will happen to Avary if we don't amputate." Dr. Torres paused. "I didn't mean to get so personal with you, but I wanted you to know that I get it. And if my story means I can convince someone to have a surgery or let their child have a surgery that would save their life no matter the cost, then Arizona's death at least means something. Her death was completely preventable, and I never want to make the same mistake again." Dr. Torres sighed, wiping tears away.

I slowly nod my head. "Then let's do the surgery," I say.

Dr. Torres nods, her lip quivering. "Thank you," she says.

I nod before saying, "I feel like I should hug you now."

Dr. Torres smiles. "You can hug me," she says as I walk over to hug the surgeon. After several seconds, she pulls away as she says, "I'm going to book an O.R. and then I'll send a resident to prep Avary for surgery."

I nod. "Thank you, Dr. Torres," I say as she began walking down the hall.

The surgeon turns around. She shakes her head before saying, "Call me Callie." I smile and nod in response.

* * *

 **The chapter you all have been waiting for! Now I can officially call this a Grey's Anatomy fanfiction xD**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

 _I continued my trek down the aisle, worry rising in my chest. "Danielle!" I would call out, only to be greeted with nothing but silence. As I passed more and more rows of bodies, I feared the worst. I continued calling, "Danielle! Danielle!" my voice growing more and more thick with emotion as the silence became more and more deafening._

 _Then I finally heard, "Avi!" But to my surprise, it was not Danielle's voice, but rather a child. As the steam finally began to lift away, I followed the voice._

" _Danielle!" I called out again, and again, I was greeted by the child's voice. I continued to crawl toward the voice, feeling the skin peel away from my knees. Finally, as the steam cleared in the back of the plane, I saw her, Danielle._

 _I froze as my heart rose again in my chest. She lay facing me, but she didn't appear to be moving, and I couldn't tell if she was breathing. But even more shocking was the little girl, no older than four and her leg tied by a piece of clothing, curled up next to Danielle. You could see pain and worry etched onto her face._

" _Don't worry sweetheart," I gently whispered to her. "I'm Avi. I'm not going to hurt you."_

" _You're Ms. Danielle's friend?" she asked. I nodded as Danielle began to stir. I felt relief wash over me, only for my heart to sink as Danielle let out a yelp of pain. I carefully crawled over to her, trying to hold back my own cries of pain as my shoulder and knees cried in agony._

 _Danielle looked up at me, giving me a slight smile before saying, "Hey."_

 _I gently hugged her, holding in tears as I asked, "Are you ok? What happened? Who is this little girl?"_

 _Danielle took a shallow breath and said, "After I let go of your hand, I was bounced around a bit in here to say the least. I lost consciousness at some point, waking up to tremendous pain. I knew there were internal injuries, but I didn't know how bad. Then I heard little Avary here crying out, her leg caught under a broken seat. So naturally, I crawled over to her and freed her. Her leg is broken though with a nice puncture wound from the seat, and both of her parents are with Jesus now." Danielle glanced over at Avary, giving her a small smile, before saying, "And I promised her that I would give her a home. She doesn't have any living close relatives and would otherwise be put in foster care. And I don't want that happening to her."_

 _I nodded, before asking, "How bad are your injuries?"_

 _Danielle sighed. "I'm not exactly sure. I just know they're bad. I'm not sure-" She was interrupted by a coughing fit, and my eyes widened in horror as I realized that Danielle was coughing up blood. I shifted her carefully, gently propping her up against me so she wouldn't choke on her own blood. I felt her body tense in pain as a tear fell onto my hand. I gently grasped her hand, and she gently squeezed mine. Finally, when she was done coughing, she relaxed a little, her breathing labored._

" _Stay with me, Danielle," I whispered, my voice thick with emotion. I gently squeezed her hand._

 _Danielle nodded. "I'm trying," she barely made out. I felt something in my pocket, and I briefly let go of Danielle's hand to feel what it was. I grasped a hold of it, only excitement to rise in my chest as I realized what it was._ My phone! _I thought to myself. I pulled it out of my pocket, quickly taking it off airplane mode to check for service. My heart sank as "No Service" appeared in the top left-hand corner. I sighed in dismay as I put my phone back in my pocket, and again grasping Danielle's hand._ What are we going to do? _I thought._

I groggily blink my eyes open as I feel Paige gently nudging me. I slowly sit up, realizing I had fallen asleep on her lap. I rub my eyes before looking up and seeing Callie standing in front of us, still wearing her surgical gown and scrub cap. I immediately sit up before asking, "How did it go?"

Callie smiles. "She sailed through it," she responds. "We removed all of the infected leg and were able to do a clean cut so she will be a prime candidate for a prosthetic once her leg heals." I sigh with relief as I hug Paige with my free arm. "Would you like to come see her?" Callie asks. I nod as she leads us to Avary's new room.

We walk in to see a couple nurses taking Avary's vitals, stepping away as we enter. "I'm going to run to the bathroom while you guys talk," Paige says as Callie grabs Avary's chart. "I didn't get a chance while you were sleeping on me." She smiles playfully at me before walking off.

Callie looks at me and says, "I'd like to keep her here until there is no longer any possibility of a post-op infection. Which would be about a month. I'll check on her wound regularly, give her medication, just everything to ensure she doesn't get an infection again and stop it if she does. And while she's here, I'll do some therapy with her to get her ready to transfer her to a prosthetic specialist once she's released."

I nod, slightly sad that Avary would have to spend most of her time in the hospital, but relieved that the infection wouldn't become a problem again. "Actually," I think aloud, "this would allow me to check on my friend who rescued her. She's in this hospital too."

"What's her name?" Callie asks, pulling up a patient directory on her tablet.

"Danielle Fleming," I answer.

"Oh yeah, I helped with her second surgery to fix up some badly broken ribs," Callie says as she reviews Danielle's chart. "She was struggling there for a bit, but it seems like she's doing better." Callie looks at me and says, "I can keep an eye on her too, if you want. I can text you updates to let you know how both of them are doing and call you if there's anything urgent."

"I would really appreciate that," I say, looking at Callie. "Thank you," I add as I pull the surgeon into a hug. She gently bumps my injured shoulder and I hiss, wincing as pain shoots through my recovering shoulder. Callie pulls away and looks at me as I rub my shoulder instinctively, biting my lip in pain.

"What's going on with your shoulder?" Callie asks with concern, instinctively putting on gloves.

 _The plane was hit with yet another wind gust as we descended, and I felt my shoulder pop out of socket. I yelped in pain, instinctively letting go of Danielle's hand briefly before realizing what I did. "No!" I screamed as Danielle was thrown to the back of the plane._

"It was just dislocated," I say, breaking my train of thought.

"Just dislocated?" Callie asks, raising an eyebrow.

 _I stood up, only to feel searing pain shoot through my shoulder. It brought me to my knees as I cried out, remembering why I had lost my grip on Danielle._ It's definitely dislocated, _I thought as I cradled my arm._

I shake my head. "It was pretty bad, I guess."

"How bad?" Callie asks.

" _This is going to hurt," Jacob warned. "I am going to try and pop it back in." I nodded, mentally preparing myself for the pain. He jerked on my arm, and I screamed in pain as I felt my shoulder pop in, but to my concern, it almost immediately popped back out again when Jacob released his grip. He furrowed his brow and tried again, but again, my shoulder wouldn't stay in the socket. Jacob shook his head, "It won't stay in, and I'm not going to put you through the pain of trying several more times. We'll just have to put it in a sling and hope for the best until we're rescued."_

"There were some pretty bad ligament tears," I respond blankly. "That's why they had to operate."

"And how long ago was the operation?"

 _The airport was crowded that afternoon on April 7._

"About two and a half weeks ago," I answer as I stare at the date on the clock in the hospital room.

Callie furrows her brows. "Can I take a look?" she asks. "You should be out of the sling by now." I nod as she gently takes off my sling and unwraps my shoulder. I hiss in pain as she slowly moves the joint. "You've lost muscle mass to support the joint," Callie states. "That's why it hurts when you don't have the sling on. It's putting strain on your healing ligaments." She examines the incision and adds, "The joint feels okay, and your incision looks beautiful. So you just need to build up some muscle mass." She carefully puts my arm back into the sling and pulls out her tablet and pulls up a calendar. "I'm assuming you'll come up here every night after work, right?" she asks. I nod as she adds, "I'd like to do some physical therapy with you on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays while you're here. You'll never get out of that sling if you don't build up that muscle, so I want to work with you to do that. You okay with that?" I nod and Callie smiles. "Great, so I'll see you no later than Wednesday then." I nod again as Callie walks out of the room. My eyes follow her out of the room.

"What are you smiling about?" Paige asks as she walks back into the room. I furrow my brow and feel the muscles in my face relax before I realize I was actually smiling. _Aviana Jennison, do you have a crush?_ I think to myself. I chuckle at the thought, _Don't be silly, she's a surgeon for crying out loud. She's way out of your league! And wait…since when did you start crushing on girls?!_

I sigh, pulling myself from my thoughts before turning to Paige. "Callie wants to keep Avary here for a month for observation to make sure she doesn't develop an infection. And while she's here, Callie's going to do therapy with her so she'll be ready for a prosthetic." I sigh before adding, "She's going to do some therapy with me too to build up muscle mass in my shoulder to protect my ligaments and get me out of this sling."

Paige cocks her head. "Since when have you been calling Dr. Torres, Callie?" she asks in a curious tone.

I feel my cheeks blush slightly. "Since she asks me to," I answer innocently.

"Uh-huh," Paige responds sarcastically. I roll my eyes at her as she glances at Avary and says, "Well, I'm here as long as you need me," she states. "At least you'll be able to check on Danielle easier this way."

I nod. "If you're okay in here with her," I begin, "I think I'm going to go call Chloe and update her and then go check on Danielle." Paige nods as I walk out of the room and towards the entrance of the hospital. I walk outside and find a bench to sit on as I call Chloe, updating her of the situation. Completely understanding, she assures me that she can help in any way she can, including if I need help with any sort of therapy that I can do at the crash site. I thank her and tell her to reassure Chuck that I will be back on the site the next day. I hang up with her as I take a moment to stare into the night sky. I allow my thoughts to run, before I finally stand up and walk back into the hospital to find Danielle's room.

I slowly walk up to Danielle's room, not wanting to disturb her if she's sleeping. I quietly step in as I see Danielle turn her head and look at me. She smiles as she says, "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come check up on you," I say with a smile.

"At 10:30 at night?" Danielle asks with a chuckle. "I know you didn't come here that late just to see me."

I sigh. "You're right," I reply. "I had to bring Avary in today."

"Why?" Danielle asks as she slowly sits up. "What happened?"

"She started vomiting this morning before I left for the crash site," I answer. "I checked her temperature and she had a pretty high fever. So we rushed her in and it turned out she had a serious infection in her leg."

"Her doctor told me about that," Danielle mentions. "She was worried that they wouldn't catch it if they cast the leg."

I nod slowly. "By the time Avary was showing symptoms, it was already too difficult to manage. They…they had to amputate her leg." Danielle gasps before covering her mouth in shock. "Callie…Dr. Torres said that they got a clean cut so they could fit her for a prosthetic. And she wants to monitor Avary for about a month to ensure she doesn't develop a post-op infection and begin therapy to prepare her for a prosthetic. And her doctor is going to do some physical therapy with me too to get me out of this sling."

Danielle nods. She wipes a tear away before looking at me and saying, "At least she's okay." I nod as I hug her. She squeezes me tight before pulling away and looking at me. "Thank you for taking care of her," she says as she squeezes my hand. She continues to hold it as she adds, "You're going to be a great mom to her."

I look at her confused as I say, "Mom? You're going to be her amazing mom. I'm just going to be the aunt who spoils her to death!"

"Did I say mom?" Danielle says with a chuckle. "I meant to say aunt." She squeezes my hand again, but I'm not entirely convinced. Danielle sighs, "I love you, but I'm getting tired, and I know you must be too. Why don't you go back to the hotel and get some sleep? I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

I nod as I say, "I love you. Sleep well." I let go of her hand and step out of the room. I go back to Avary's room to find Paige asleep on one of the beds they brought in for us to sleep on. Exhausted, without even changing out of my work clothes, I curl up into the bed and fall asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

The following Wednesday, I head to the hospital after leaving the crash site to check up on Avary and Danielle, and to have my first therapy session. I feel nervous about the therapy session, though I am unsure why. _Am I just nervous about the pain?_ I question to myself. It's possible, considering the pain I felt when Callie examined the shoulder. But that answer didn't really seem to solve it either. My mind keeps going back to said orthopedic surgeon, one who I haven't stopped thinking of since meeting her on Monday. _Surely I am not obsessing over a girl,_ I think to myself. _I'm not a lesbian, I'm 100% straight! Besides, I can't be gay, Mom and Dad would disown me._

Chloe pulls up to the hospital entrance and unlocks her car. "Say hi to Avary and Danielle for me!" she says as I open the car door.

"I will!" I answer as I grab my phone and purse.

"And have a good first physical therapy session!" Chloe adds, giving me a wink and a smile. I smile back.

"Thank you, and I will! Goodnight!" I wave as I shut the car door and watch Chloe drive off. I sigh as I sling my purse over my shoulder and turn to face the hospital. _Here goes nothing,_ I think to myself.

I walk to Avary's room. Callie is already in there, examining her incision and checking her vitals. I hear her talking to Avary and the four-year-old giggling, which makes me smile. _She's amazing with kids,_ I think to myself. _And again, why does this matter to you?_

Callie looks over at me and smiles. "I was just giving Miss Avary here a checkup, just to make sure everything was looking okay, and it is! And Avary took it like a champ, right?" Callie smiles back at Avary and fist bumps her before turning to me. "You ready to get started on your therapy session?" the surgeon asks me. I nod and she gestures for me to follow her into what looks like a lab. "I know it looks like I'm going to run tests on you," Callie says with a chuckle, "but I promise this is just basically my office. I brought everything we would need in here." She smiles and pulls out a few rubber bands and exercise equipment before pulling a stool over to her desk and gesturing for me to sit in it. She gently removes my sling. I wince in pain. "Still in a lot of pain when it's out of the sling?" Callie asks. I nod as she proceeds to move my shoulder around. I whimper, and she looks at my face, seeing me bite my lip. "So, you're from Florida, right? Where in Florida?" Callie asks.

"It's a tiny little town about an hour south of Jacksonville," I respond, slightly clenching my teeth.

"Have you always lived there?" Callie asks as she continues working with my shoulder.

"No," I answer. "We moved there when I was six and a half. I'm originally from an even smaller town in Southern Maryland."

"So you clearly are a small-town girl," Callie chuckles.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," I gasp as Callie begins rotating my shoulder. I hear her whisper "sorry", as she grabs a two-pound dumbbell.

"I want you to hold your arm in the air and do reps with the weight," Callie instructs. "I'll hold your shoulder to stabilize it." I nod as I lift the dumbbell and Callie holds my shoulder. "So what made you become a plane crash investigator?"

"It's a bit of a long story," I chuckle through clenched teeth.

"Relax as much as you can," Callie says. "And we've got time."

I smile. "Believe it or not, I had originally gone to school to become a teacher."

"That's a stark contrast," Callie laughs.

"But then somewhere through doing field experience, I realized that working with kids wasn't for me. I love them, I want my own, but teaching twenty of them five days a week for nine months isn't my thing."

"Understandable," Callie states. "So what made you switch to crash investigation?"

"Honestly, I just saw an article that a college in Jacksonville had just added the major. I had always loved watching crash documentaries, and so I thought, 'Hey, why not give this a try?' And so I did, and I fell in love."

"You can stop the reps," Callie says. "I want you to hold the dumbbell out in front of you and lift your arm up and down now." I follow her instructions as she says, "That's interesting though. So, now a big question. Who has the honor of dating such a beautiful woman like yourself?"

I laugh before saying, "No one, and I've never been in a relationship either."

"You're kidding?!" Callie responds in shock. "Not even one date?"

"I've been on _one_ date," I answer. "But just one and though the guy was nice enough, I didn't want to go on another one. He was just too…protective. And I just haven't found another guy that I wanted to go out with."

"Guys?" Callie chuckles as she shakes her head. "I think I have a good explanation as to why you can't find the right guy."

"And why is that?" I ask curiously.

"Cause you're gay," Callie answers.

"I'm definitely not gay, I'm definitely straight."

"Oh honey, please, my gaydar was ringing all kinds of alarms when I met you. I don't know if you just never realized it or if you are in some sort of denial battle with yourself, but you're definitely a lesbian."

"And you know this how?"

"Cause my gaydar is impeccable," she says with a chuckle. "Plus, I was a lot like you when I was experimenting with my sexuality. Granted, I'm bi, but I was wanting to get into a serious relationship with a woman. And I was scared because my parents are Catholic, and I knew they would flip out. But I knew that the attraction was real, so I stopped denying myself the relationship I wanted. And it resulted in a year and a half long amazing marriage with my wife."

"My parents are Pentecostal," I say. "They would never accept me for who I am. I would lose them and all connections to my little sister."

Callie stops my reps, takes the dumbbell from me and looks me in the eye. "You deserve to be happy, Aviana. I don't care what your parents threaten, even if you lose your sister, don't deny yourself a life with the person you love because of what your family thinks. They may try and fire you from your own job, or bring a priest to said job and try to 'pray away the gay', but don't let that deter you from being happy with the person who makes you happy. Even if that person is a woman." She hugs me before saying, "Arizona is dead and despite all the grief and pain I've faced, there is nothing I would trade for the love I had with her, a love I would have never experienced if I listened to my parents. Don't deny yourself of that same love."

"Thank you," I whisper before Callie lets me go.

"Well, life lesson over, I want to go over with you some exercises for you to do on your own or with Paige and then we can be done." Callie smiles at me as I nod and she shows me all the different exercises and how Paige can help me. About thirty minutes later, she walks me back to Avary's room, the little girl fast asleep. Paige is already in the room, ready to take us back to the hotel. Callie says goodbye, gently rubbing my back as she walks out of the room. As Paige and I walk out to her car, I feel butterflies in my stomach, ones I have never felt before. _Maybe I can accept this,_ I say to myself. _Maybe I do have a crush on a woman after all._ I smile as I think, _Even if that girl is a chief of orthopedic surgery._


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

It has been about two weeks since Avary's surgery. Avary's leg, or what is left of it, is recovering beautifully, as Callie puts it. Her sutures have come out, and she's started physical therapy to get her leg ready for the prosthetic. At the rate she's going, Callie believes that she could go home even sooner than expected.

Danielle also is continuing to thrive. She seems to have almost fully recovered, with most of her internal injuries close to fully healed. Her doctors have said that if her numbers stay within the ideal levels for a full week, they would release her. For this, I am ecstatic and beyond relieved.

Even my own physical therapy has been going well. With the help of Callie, I have worked up enough muscle to take my arm out of the sling for a couple of hours at a time. I'm still supposed to use the sling to allow my arm to rest, but I have been able to dress myself without pain and I have been cleared to drive. Working with Callie has also given me something to look forward to throughout the week. I have thoroughly enjoyed her company, and I have never been more relaxed and happy spending time with anyone, and certainly not a doctor. Though I am glad that Avary and Danielle are recovering and can soon come home, I almost dread the fact I will have to leave Callie to go back to Florida soon.

However, the investigation is at a bit of a standstill. We have obtained everything we can from the site itself, now it's just a matter of sending the case to headquarters and waiting for the lab to analyze the evidence we have. While Chloe and I meet with Chuck to brainstorm things to target once we are cleared to review the lab results and examine the evidence, there isn't much we can do from here in Tennessee. It's another reminder that my time in Tennessee is almost over.

It is a Wednesday. The investigation is officially being wrapped up in Tennessee today, and we are simply at the crash site searching the mountain side to make sure all the evidence has been collected and we weren't leaving anything behind. We are taking a lunch break when I feel my phone vibrate in my back pocket. I pull out my phone and see the screen read "Callie". Worried, I answer the phone, "Hey you, is everything okay?"

"You need to get here as quickly as you can," Callie says in a very urgent tone. Before I have a chance to question her, she adds, "It's Danielle."

Before I know it, without saying a word to Chuck or Chloe, I'm grabbing my briefcase and my car keys and running to my car. I throw everything onto the front seat and sit in the driver's seat, starting the car and driving away. I text Paige and Chloe, _"Callie called me. Something is going on with Danielle. Going to the hospital now."_ I fiercely grasp the wheel as I race down the mountain towards the main road.

" _Avary first," she wheezed. "I need to talk to Avi anyway." Jacob nodded as he carefully scooped up Avary and started to make his way outside._

 _He turned back, "Don't worry, there are a few other survivors that are outside as well. One is a flight attendant, I can leave Avary with her for now. Her name is Laura."_

 _Danielle nodded as Jacob walked off. She squeezed my hand and said, "I need you to promise me something."_

" _Anything," I answered as I stroked Danielle's hand with my thumb._

 _Danielle took a struggled breath and said, "You and I both know that I may not survive. Like it or not, my injuries are bad enough that I will die without medical treatment, and neither of us know when we will get out of here. But can you promise me that you will take Avary in, either until I'm physically able, or would you adopt her if…you know."_

 _I nodded, sniffling as tears fell on Danielle's head. She squeezed my hand as I said, "I promise." I let go of Danielle's hand and gently hugged her, placing my hand over her chest. I felt her struggle for each breath, my heart sinking as the reality of the situation hit me. "Just promise me this," I said, my voice trembling. "Promise me that you will do everything in your power to stay alive."_

" _I promise," Danielle wheezed, before starting again into another coughing fit. I sat her up, trying to keep her from choking, before laying her back against me once she was done. She shuddered, her breaths even more labored than before._ She's slowly drowning in her own blood, _I realized._ Help, please come soon.

I feel a wetness on my cheeks as I continue to race towards the hospital. I look at my GPS and see that the ETA is another thirty minutes. I push harder on the gas pedal. _This isn't happening. We made it out of the woods. This can't be happening_ , I think to myself, praying that I mistook Callie's urgency for excitement. _Maybe she's being released, and they needed me to come get her and see how she'd do in the hotel room with me,_ I try to convince myself. My reason tells me otherwise.

 _Danielle pulled away and looked at me. She again struggled for air, only to start once again into a coughing fit. The amount of blood she was coughing up now was alarming, and I had a feeling begin to eat away at me that she wouldn't survive until help came. Danielle leaned back against me and shuddered. She momentarily stopped breathing, but before I could react, she took a labored breath. "I'm doing everything I can to stay alive, Av," Danielle wheezed. She looked like she was going to say something else but thought better of it._

 _Though I knew she didn't want to worry me, I knew that I needed to know the extent of her condition. I gulped before asking, "How much lung capacity do you feel you have."_

" _Let's not talk about that," Danielle said, trying to take even breaths. She closed her eyes, as I caught her mouth "But it's decreasing."_ Oh God no, _I thought._ Her lungs really are filling with blood. Without a miracle…she's, she's not… _My thoughts trailed off before I could allow myself to believe that statement. But when Danielle finally looked back up with me, tears in her eyes, I knew that she knew it too. Her time was limited._ Oh God, _I prayed,_ please let help get here soon. I can't lose her now. Please.

I knew it was beyond medical explanation that Danielle survived in the first place. The fact that she seemed to recover at all is a miracle, and the doctors said it over and over again. Many of them talked that this was all a "surge"; a sudden improvement in condition before the patient declines rapidly. I told myself that it wouldn't happen to Danielle, that she would be okay. Now, I started to wonder if I was wrong. _ETA is five minutes. Just hang on five more minutes Danielle._

 _Danielle looked up at me almost in a panic, her eyes darting back and forth, "Wh-where are you, Av?" she wheezed, her panic dripping from her voice._

" _I'm right here, Dee," I said, tilting her head towards me, but her eyes seemed to look straight through me. "Can you hear me? I'm right here Danielle."_

" _I hear you, but you sound so far away," Danielle whispered. "It's so dark, where's Avary?"_

" _She's right here beside me," I answered. I grabbed Danielle's hand and said, "And I'm right here, can you feel my hand? I'm right here with you, just please don't give up on me."_

" _A-Av…I'm sorry," Danielle wheezed. After a few moments, she took in another breath of air and said, "You'll take care of Mom and Riss for me, right?"_ Oh God no, _I thought,_ she's giving up!

" _No," I answered, "because you will be there to take care of them Danielle. Don't talk like that; you're going to be ok!" I glanced at Jacob panicked, as he ran over to see what was going on._

" _Av," Danielle gasped, "promise me, please."_

" _I promise," I answered, "but I won't need to, cause you're going to be ok. You're going to adopt Avary. Just don't give up,_ please _don't give up."_

" _Danielle, come on, snap out of this," Jacob said sternly but with panic in his voice. "You're going to be ok, hang on. Help's going to be here soon. Just don't leave us."_

" _Jacob?" Danielle asked, her eyes darting around for him._

 _He rested his hand on her shoulder. "I'm right here Danielle. Don't you dare give up."_

" _I'm sorry," Danielle wheezed. Her eyes started to close._

 _I gently tapped her face, "Hey don't go to sleep, you need to stay awake."_

" _But I'm so tired," Danielle gasped. "And it's so dark."_

" _I know, but you need to stay awake. You just_ can't _go to sleep."_ God **please,** _I prayed,_ she's going to die…

I burst through the stairwell door onto Danielle's floor, knowing the elevator would take too long. I run to Danielle's room to find it filled with doctors. I watch as one pushes air into her lungs through a bag connected to a tube going down her throat. Another is operating a crash cart as another barks orders. I notice the doctor doing chest compressions is Callie, and she's mouthing something, but I can't determine what. I feel tears drip off my chin before I realize they're there. A sob escapes my mouth as it finally clicks what's happening. _Oh my God, she's dying, she's really dying. No, no, no, NO!_

I watch as they shock her several times, switching off between shocking her and chest compressions. They insert drugs into her IV multiple times, and my heart begins to sink as I watch her heart monitor. I've seen enough medical dramas to know that the tight up and down motion of the line indicates v-fib, and even more concerning is the lack of change in the monitor, despite the continual intervention.

Finally, the monitor flatlines, the elongated beep filling the now silent hallway. I gasp, watching as the commotion stills in Danielle's room. I see one of the doctor's slowly lift her wrist as she solemnly says, "Time of death, 13:52."

"NO!" I scream as I crumple to my knees, uncontrollably sobbing, burying my face in my hands.

Callie turns and notices me. "Aviana!" she calls as she kneels down in front of me and pulls me close to her. I wrap my arms around her as I continue to sob, and she wraps one arm around my waist and calmly strokes my hair with her other one. "I'm so, so sorry Av," she says with emotion in her voice. She places her chin on top of my head as she slowly rocks me back and forth. I feel her gently stand me up and lead me to the couch in Danielle's room, with me still gripping her tight. She sits me down on the couch, still holding me, before everything goes black.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9**_

I slowly start to come to, my head pounding as I start to stir. I feel my arms still limply around someone, and I can tell by her smell that it's Callie. I feel her gently stroking my hair as she holds my hand with her other. I move my arm, wincing as I feel something in it. I blink my eyes open and look down at my arm, noticing an IV connected to it. I sigh and lean back against Callie, not even realizing the comfort I find in her.

"You passed out from dehydration," Callie says as she runs her fingers through my curls. "We put an IV in to give you fluids. You're okay though." I nod, wincing at the pain in my head.

Finally, I look around the room, my eyes landing on the hospital bed in its center. There is a figure lying in the bed, sheets covering its entirety. I let out a sob before I could catch it, and I feel Callie pull me closer and whisper, "I am so sorry, Av." I don't even feel tears fall down my cheeks, and I feel myself become numb as I stare at the bed. "Would you like to see her?" Callie asks me and I nod. She stands up and pulls a chair closer to the bed. She helps me up and grabs the IV stand and wheels it next to the bed. I sit in the chair as Callie walks to the other side of the bed and grabs the sheets. She slowly pulls them back and folds them across Danielle's chest. I gasp at the sight of her face. Her skin is nearly as white as the sheet and cold to the touch. Her eyes are gently closed, almost as if she were asleep. I feel a tear trickle down my face as I gently stroke Danielle's hair.

"She looks peaceful," I mutter as I feel another tear escape from my eye. Callie remains silent as she walks over and gently rubs my back. I feel her suddenly stop and hear her walk away, but I don't take my eyes off Danielle's face. I hear whispers outside, but I ignore them. Finally, I hear footsteps walk in and I look up to see Callie. I glance over and see Chloe and Paige outside the room, but I don't acknowledge them.

"We need to take her down to the morgue soon," Callie says regrettably. "You need to go ahead and say goodbye."

I nod slowly before looking down at the ground and saying, "Do you mind waiting outside for a minute, please?" Callie nods and walks out, leaving the door cracked behind her. I turn to look back at Danielle. I stroke her hair again as I whisper, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't get here in time. I tried, I tried to get here but I didn't make it in time, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you goodbye." I feel my voice choke as I add, "I'll make sure your mom and Klarissa are okay. And I'll adopt Avary, she will be safe and loved by me and whomever I end up marrying. I promise. And I'm so, so sorry." I let the sobs take over as I throw myself over Danielle's body, tears streaming down my face once again. I hear the door squeak but I don't look up. I feel a hand on my back and though I continue to cry, the hand brings me comfort.

About five minutes later, when I have run out of tears, I finally sit up. I look over and see Callie standing over me. "Paige and Chloe are here. Are you okay if I send them in while I take her down?" I nod as Callie walks over to the door and motions for Paige and Chloe. They walk in and pull chairs up next to mine and sit down next to me. Callie unlocks the wheels of the bed and wheels it out of the room. The room remains silent, none of us wanting to say anything. I lean my head against Chloe's shoulder, who wraps her arm behind me. Paige gently rubs my back in comfort as we sit in the silence.

After about an hour, I finally speak. I turn to Paige and say, "Danielle's mom and sister need to know. And Avary needs to know too."

"Do you need me to call them and go talk to Avary?" Paige asks.

I sigh. "I'm Avary's mom now, I should be the one to tell her." I feel the tears begin to return as I choke out, "But I can't call Ms. Robin or Klarissa."

"I'll call," Callie says, stepping into the room. "I was one of Danielle's surgeons anyway. I can call." I look at Callie gratefully and nod. She glances at my arm and says, "Let me take that IV out first." She walks over and removes the IV. I hear her whisper to Paige, "Why don't you run down to the cafeteria and get her something to eat and drink?" Paige nods and the two of them walk out of the room. I lean back against Chloe's shoulder as she rubs my back.

After about five minutes, Chloe takes a breath and says, "I know we've only known each other for a few weeks, but you've become a really good friend to me, even in that amount of time. So know that I'm here for you, I want to be here for you and whatever you need."

"What about Oregon?" I ask, not bothering to look up. "Aren't you going back there?"

I feel Chloe shake her head. "I requested to move to the Southeastern Region team. I'll permanently be in Florida now. So I'll be there if you need me." She smiles at me and I look up at her and smile gratefully, before hugging the blue haired girl. "If you need anything, transportation, babysitter, therapist, anything, call me okay?" I nod as I continue to hug her.

I release the hug and look up as I hear the door open. Paige walks in with three boxes of food and a drink carrier holding three drinks. "I brought food," she says with a small smile. She pulls a table towards us and hands out the food and drinks. Paige sits down and Chloe immediately begins eating. I simply stare at my unopened box, not having the will or appetite to even open it. Paige nudges me and says, "You have to eat, kiddo." I shake my head and she adds, "I'll go get Callie." I shrug as Paige gets up and pokes her head outside the door. Paige walks back over and sits down before the surgeon walks back through the door.

Callie sternly looks at me and says, "You're going to eat." I shake my head as she walks over, puts her hands on the table and leans close to me. "I don't care what happened. It's not an excuse to starve yourself. You are a mother now, you have to eat to have the strength to take care of your daughter." I continue to stare at my box of food as Callie sighs and adds, "I heard you promise Danielle that you would take care of Avary. But you can't do that if you starve yourself. If you can't eat for yourself or Avary or any of the three people here who care about you, then for God's sake eat for Danielle!" Callie steps back, keeping a stern face, but I can see in her brown eyes worry that she crossed a line. _She cares about me?_ I think to myself. I sigh, opening the box and grabbing a fork. Callie sighs. "Thank you," she says as she walks towards the door. "I'm going to go check on patients and I'll come in to check on you." I nod as I continue to eat, slowly but surely.

I finally finish eating about an hour later, and I sit with Paige and Chloe in silence for another hour. Finally, I sigh, looking between Paige and Chloe and say, "I need to go talk to Avary."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Chloe asks.

I pause before answering, "You can sit outside her room, but I'd rather be alone to tell her." They both nod as the three of us stand up. They start to walk out and I stop, staring at the nearly empty room that once held one of my best friends. I swallow a lump in my throat as I turn and walk out to go tell Avary that she has once again lost a mother.

I notice Callie at the nurses' station on Avary's floor, writing notes on a patient's chart. She looks up and recognition goes across her face as she realizes what I'm there to do. "Do you need me to go with you?" she mouths and I simply shake my head. I walk into Avary's room to see her watching Paw Patrol on the TV. I smile at her before sitting down on the edge of her bed. She smiles back at me and crawls over to hug me.

"Hey, do you mind if I turn off the TV for a minute?" I say gently. "I need to tell you something." Avary nods and hands me the remote and I press the "off" button. I sigh as I tuck a strand of hair behind Avary's ear. "You remember Ms. Danielle? The woman who saved you and was going to adopt you?"

Avary nods. "I call her 'Mommy' now," Avary states. "Dr. Callie has taken me over to see her a lot since we've both been feeling better!"

I smile and nod. I feel the lump creep back up in my throat as I say, "Well, Mommy went to be with Jesus this afternoon."

"Why?" Avary asks.

I shake my head. "I don't know sweetheart. The doctors said that sometimes this happens with people who were as sick as she was. Even after they seem to be getting better."

"So she's with my real mommy and daddy?" Avary asks. I nod as I tuck another strand behind her ear. She looks up at me and asks, "Does that mean you're going to be my mommy now?" I nod as I pull the little girl into a hug, kissing the top of her head.

"Yes, I will be your mommy," I say as I gently squeeze her. "I'll take you home and take good care of you. I love you."

"I love you too, Mommy," Avary says as she reaches up to kiss my cheek. I give her a smile and kiss her forehead. I sigh, as I stroke Avary's hair again. _If I hold on to the fact I'm now this little girl's mom, I can make it through this._

I hear a knock at the door. I call for the knocker to come in, and the door opens to reveal the head pediatric doctor in the hospital, Dr. Laars. He smiles at Avary and says, "Hey little one! How are you feeling today?"

"Good!" Avary squeals as she shyly pulls the covers over her face.

Dr. Laars turns to me. "Avary has been doing phenomenal since her surgery. Her incision has healed up very nicely, and she's doing great with her physical therapy with Dr. Torres. I think she's ready to go home."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Callie yells as she walks into the room. "She can't be released yet. She's my patient!"

"Yes, well she is a child and as I am the chief of peds, that makes her my patient too," Dr. Laars adds. "She's cleared of her chance of developing a post-op infection, she can continue her physical therapy while she's at home, there is no need for her to be in this hospital."

"But she's missing a leg!" Callie counters. "She still needs physical therapy, and she needs to get fitted for a prosthetic and work on walking with that! Besides her mom still needs shoulder therapy so she can properly care for her!"

"Her mom has a support group, they're sitting outside. And they both can continue therapy with you once they go home."

"They live in Florida!"

"Well I'm sure there are competent orthopedic doctors who can help them there. But I refuse to keep a child in a hospital when there is no medical reason for her to stay here."

My heart sinks. With the investigation being closed out and ready to be transferred to headquarters, the only reason I have been provided the funds to stay in a hotel in Tennessee is because of Avary and Danielle still being in the hospital. With Danielle dead, if Avary's released, my hotel will no longer be paid for if I were to stay in Tennessee, and I cannot continue to afford a hotel room while Callie finishes up therapy with Avary and me. Which means I would have to say goodbye to Callie…probably forever. I hold Avary's hand as I look at Callie pleadingly, her returning an almost panicked look.

"What if…" Callie starts, "what if I go with them? I'm not ready to close out Avary's case with me, and this way, I can monitor Avary's progress, work with her on a prosthetic, and work with her mother on strengthening her shoulder so she will no longer need help caring for Avary."

Dr. Laars shakes his head. "It seems stupid to me to not just transfer her but do what you need. You're going to have to talk to the chief though, it's in no way my call."

Callie looks at me hopeful. "I'll be back," she says with a smile as she runs toward the elevators.

Dr. Laars jots down some notes on Avary's chart and says, "I'm going to work on getting her discharged. She can go home tonight."

"Thank you," I say as Dr. Laars walks out of the room. I sit with Avary on her bed for a little while, Paige and Chloe coming in to keep my company as Avary falls asleep.

About an hour later, Callie walks back into the room with a huge grin on her face. My hope rises as I sit up and she looks at me. "You got yourself a house doctor," Callie says as she points to herself. I cover my face in happiness as I stand up and walk over to hug her.

"Thank you," I say into her ear, squeezing her tight.

"Of course," Callie says with a smile. She pulls away and says, "Lord knows that discharging a patient can take forever, so I'm going to run home and pack my stuff and then I'll meet you back here to take you back to the hotel." I nod with a smile as Callie waves and walks out of the room.

I sigh and look at Paige and Chloe. "I guess I don't need you guys here anymore. Callie can help me from here with my shoulder and Avary." I point to Paige and say, "I know you have to get home and get back to your third graders and you," I add pointing at Chloe, "need to find a place to live so we can start on the investigation once the labs come back." I smile at them as they both come and hug me. "Thank you guys for all your help. I love you both."

"Of course," Chloe says with a smile.

"Don't hesitate to call either of us if you need anything," Paige says with a stern look.

"I won't," I say with a smile. "See you both soon." I watch as they walk out of the room. I sigh, conflicted feeling happy that my doctor crush is temporarily going to be living with me when one of my best friends just died. _I guess Danielle would want me to be happy,_ I think to myself. I start to get drowsy, and I lay my head down on the pillow next to Avary.

About an hour later, I startle awake to a knock on the door, and I see Callie walk through the door, still in her scrubs and doctor's coat. In her hands are a stack of papers. "These are all of Avary's discharge instructions, and I also printed out information on prosthetic specialists in Florida for Avary to go to. I can work with her on the prosthetic, but someone has to fit her for one, and she'll need someone to change them out as she grows older." She walks back to the nurses' station to grab a tablet. "Sign this and Avary is ready to go!" Callie smiles as she walks back in and hands me a tablet pen and the tablet and I sign on the line on the screen. She presses a few buttons as she returns the tablet to the nurse. She walks back in and says, "My car is all packed, I got a car seat in there and ready to go." I smile at the surgeon. _She may just be perfect,_ I think to myself as I slowly stand up, careful not to disturb the sleeping four-year old. I stash the papers in my bag and throw it over my shoulder as Callie carefully scoops up Avary and starts carrying her out the door. Once we're out to the car, she carefully buckles Avary in and takes my bag and packs it in the car. I open the door and sit in the passenger's seat and Callie sits in the driver's seat and starts the car.

"So," Callie begins as she begins to drive off, "how do you feel about doing a road trip to Florida instead of flying? It's super expensive to ship cars anyway, and it's only about a nine to ten-hour drive to Florida."

"That's fine," I answer. "I'm fine with road trips, even with small children. And I really am not up for flying at the moment."

Callie nods as she continues, "Do you feel okay to leave in the morning? I can help you pack up your things tonight, and you can call Avary's case manager and give her an update on what's going on and make any other phone calls you need to."

"Leaving tomorrow is fine with me," I respond. "I'm glad I met you and Avary here, but I am so over Tennessee right now." Callie smiles sympathetically and puts a hand on my knee as she continues to drive to the hotel.

Once we arrive at the hotel, Callie puts a still sleeping Avary in bed. She begins to gather my things into my suitcase as I call Gloria to update her on Avary. She thanked me and confirmed a home study to take place the Friday morning after we arrive home. Once I hung up with her, I called my mom, knowing she's been anxious for me to come home.

"Hello?" I hear after about two rings.

"Hey Mom, it's me," I answer. "Guess who's coming home tomorrow?"

"Really?!" my mom responds excitedly. "I'm so excited! I can't wait to see you in person. I need to hug you after all that's happened."

"I do too," I say, my voice a little choked.

"I heard about Danielle," my mom says somberly. "I'm so, so sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" I trail off, turning to see Callie unpacking Avary's favorite bear and tucking it next to her. "Yeah, I will be okay."

"Good," my mom answers. She pauses before saying, "How's Avary?"

"She's doing better," I say. "She got discharged just a couple of hours ago since she has no chance anymore of a post-op infection. We're just resting for the night, and we'll have a nice road trip coming home tomorrow morning."

"Are you going to be okay driving that distance with your shoulder?" my mom asks concerned.

"I'm not driving," I answer. "Actually, Avary's doctor has offered to come home with us to continue working on Avary's leg and work with her on a prosthetic. She's an orthopedic surgeon, and she's the reason Avary has recovered so quickly. She's the one who's been doing physical therapy on my shoulder."

"Well that will be good," my mom says. "I was worried how you would do taking care of her on your own since your shoulder is not completely healed."

"And I just got off the phone with Avary's caseworker," I say. "If no family members pop up, it looks like you have a green light for having your first granddaughter. My background check is all clear and they think I would be a good match for adopting her."

"That's wonderful, Aviana!" my mom says, hearing the happiness in her voice. I smile at the happiness in her voice.

"Well, I got to go finish packing and getting ready for tomorrow. I'll see you soon okay? Love you!" I listen to my mom's goodbye and hang up the phone. I looked at Callie, who had packed everything but essentials for getting ready tomorrow morning. I grab my pajamas and head in the bathroom to change them and brush my teeth. By the time I walk out, Callie is sitting under the covers in her pajamas reading. I smile at her as I ask, "Are you okay with sharing the bed? I can sleep next to Avary if you want."

"Oh no, I don't mind," Callie says as she pulls back the covers for me to crawl under. I get under the sheet and lay my head back down on the pillow. Exhausted from the day's events, I barely hear Callie ask to turn off the lights before I fall asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10**_

It's the next morning, and I wake up to my phone's alarm, one I forgot I even set. I grown and grab my phone and turn off the alarm, figuring I need to start getting up and getting ready to head home. I start to get up, before realizing I have an arm draped across my stomach. I look over and see Callie still fast asleep. I smile at her as I carefully wiggle myself from underneath her arm and head to the bathroom to shower. I quickly shower, brush my teeth, and get dressed before pulling my hair back into a braid. I then grab all of my stuff and pack it, zipping my suitcase up.

I glance at the time, _7:43 A.M._ I sigh, knowing I need to wake Callie and Avary up so we can eat before hitting the road. I gently nudge Callie awake, who slowly blinks her eyes open and looks up at me. "Hey sleepyhead," I say with a smile. "You need to get up and get ready so we can eat breakfast here at the hotel before we hit the road. I'll get Avary ready." Callie nods as she sits up and stretches before walking to the bathroom. I walk over to Avary's bed, gently nudging her awake. She opens her eyes and looks up at me. "You ready to get up and get ready?" I ask with a smile. "We're going home today."

"Yeah!" Avary says excitedly. I grab her clothes and help her change out of her pajamas. I brush her dark wavy hair, pulling some of it back into a ponytail and adding a bow. I put a shoe on her foot and tie up her pants leg. She clutches her bear as I pack up the rest of her clothes and belongings. Once Callie comes out of the bathroom, I take Avary to brush her teeth before packing her toothbrush and zipping up her suitcase.

Within an hour, all three of us are ready and have packed the car. We double check the room before heading to the lobby for breakfast. Once we eat, Callie carries Avary to the car while I check out. By 9:30 that morning, we are hitting the road for home.

About an hour into the road trip, after putting on the second movie for Avary on the DVD player Callie bought for her, I glance over at Callie. "So where are you from?" I ask.

"What, just because I am living with you for a few months you want my whole life story?" Callie asks jokingly. I laugh as she says, "First of all, my fill name is actually Calliope. I just go by Callie, for short. I actually grew up in Florida. I went to med school there before interning at Seattle Grace and completing my residency there. I actually became chief of ortho over there, and that's where I met Arizona, who was chief or pediatric surgery at the same hospital. I actually only have been at the hospital in Tennessee about six months, I moved shortly after Arizona's death. I miss all my friends in Seattle, but I couldn't work at the same hospital Arizona worked at anymore. So I moved." She looks over at me and says, "You've mentioned having a little sister. How old is she?"

"She's seven, so three years older than Avary," I respond. "Her name is Bri. My parents fostered her from the time she was eight days old until we adopted her when she was about a year and a half. Until Avary, I had never loved a human being more in my life than when I met her. She's the reason I'm still here."

"Here?" Callie asked concerned. "What do you mean?"

I sigh. "Almost five years ago now, we had two other foster kids along with Bri, and their names were Maya and Lavon. We got them a month after we got Bri; Lavon was just shy of 2 and Maya was a month old. She and Bri were only twenty-three days apart in age. So we essentially had a boy and two twin girls. And we were a family. Well…" my voice trails off. "The state of Florida has a big thing about keeping biological family together. I firmly believe that your family is who fits the role even if they aren't related to you. But Florida thinks that blood matters more. And Maya and Lavon had an older brother that they didn't know very well. After a huge fight between people who once were our friends over the custody of the kids, eventually, blood mattered more and they were removed from our home and the other family got to adopt them. We were supposed to adopt them, but they were taken from us. I probably wouldn't be here if we didn't have Bri." I sigh, as I feel Callie put her hand on my leg. "Sorry," I say as I swallow a lump in my throat, "I still get emotional about it."

"It's okay," Callie responds. "You have the right to be emotional over that. Regardless, but especially after what happened yesterday." I nod as Callie finds my hand and takes it. "I want you to know that I did everything I could to save Danielle. When I stopped chest compressions, it was only because I knew that there was no way we could get her back. I knew at that point that she wasn't going to make it, but I tried everything to bring her back so you could say goodbye. I just couldn't do it." I heard the emotion in her voice as I turn to look at her face and see tears trailing down it. She adds, "I couldn't even call the time of death because I knew how much she meant to you and I couldn't be the one to acknowledge that she was gone." She stops at a red light and looks over at me and I squeeze her hand. The light turns green and she faces the road to continue driving, and I gently put my head on her shoulder.

"Thank you," I say and I feel her squeeze my hand in response. We ride in silence for a little while before stopping to grab a bite for lunch. We quickly hit the road again and I put on another movie for Avary.

Callie and I talk a good chunk of the rest of the ride home. Occasionally we did jam to some music, we mostly talked about anything and everything. We talked about our families and our beliefs. We talked about our sexuality and that I did realize that she was right about me being gay. She talked about some of her accomplishments as well as my own. Though I already had a bit of a secret crush on her, getting to know Callie really expounded upon how much I liked her. She wasn't just a pretty face, even if she has one, she's an amazing person too. She became someone I wanted to be friends with at the very least, and perhaps, even something more.

We arrive at my house around 8:45 that night. I unlock the door and lead Callie, carrying a sleepy Avary, to the second of the two bedrooms in my house. As I had decorated the bedroom for Bri to sleep in when she came over, it was perfect for Avary. Callie sets her down on the bed and walks out to begin unloading the car. I take off Avary's shoe and tuck her into bed. It's long before she falls asleep, and I turn off the light and shut the door behind me before going to help Callie finish unloading the car.

Callie has everything unloaded and in the living room by the time I got Avary to sleep. "I don't know where to put anything, but it's all out of the car," Callie says with a chuckle.

I scan the suitcases and grab the handle of Avary's. "I'll put Avary's things outside her door for now. You can take your stuff to my bedroom down the hall. I can sleep on the couch until I get another bed, but you can still keep your stuff in there. I'm sorry I don't have another bedroom."

"No!" Callie says. "It's okay, I don't mind sharing the bed if you're okay with that, and if you're not, I'll sleep on the couch. I'm not kicking you out of your own bed in your own house."

I shake my head. "Well, I guess sharing it is. I'm not letting you sleep on the couch for however long."

"Thank you," Callie says smiling. "Shall we unpack?" I nod as I take Avary's stuff and put it outside her door before helping Callie take everything else into my bedroom. I clear out a section of my closet and a dresser to allow her to put her clothes and things and we slowly begin unpacking our stuff. Within a couple of hours, we're unpacked.

I glance around the clean, unpacked room. "I have never unpacked that quickly after a trip in my entire life," I say chuckling as I look at Callie. "Thank you," I say hugging her.

"Of course," Callie says hugging me back. She pulls away somewhat, still holding onto my arms as we stare at each other. Finally, she puts her hands on my cheeks and gently presses her lips against mine. She pulls away after a few seconds, clearly shocked at what she had done. Though I'm shocked, especially as this had been my first kiss ever, I can't say I didn't enjoy it. I feel my cheeks blush as Callie says, "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me, I'm sor-"

I cut her off as I grab her face and press my lips against hers. She gently puts her hands on my face as she returns the kiss. I finally break away after several seconds and look back at Callie, both of us smiling. "You know," Callie begins as she tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, "I'm not a fan of patient/doctor relationships, but…"

"Technically, you're not my doctor," I say with a smirk. "You're Avary's doctor. And she's technically not legally my daughter yet."

"Well, in that case…" Callie wraps her arms around me and pulls me onto the bed on top of her, kissing me repeatedly as she rolls me onto my back. She looks at me lovingly as she says, "Besides Arizona, I have never wanted to kiss someone so badly in my life."

"And I have never wanted to kiss anyone ever until I met you," I smile back at her as I pull her into one more kiss, lasting several seconds before breaking away. Callie smiles at me as she lays down on the bed next to me as I curl up next to her, wrapping my arm around her waist. She places a soft kiss on my forehead as I reach up to kiss her cheek. She reaches over to turn off the lamp as she pulls me closer. I lay my head on her chest, feeling her breathe and hearing her heart beat. As I begin to drift off to sleep, I think to myself, _This may be the beginning of a beautiful relationship._


	11. Chapter 11 ANNOUNCEMENT AT END

_**Chapter 11**_

 _I don't know how long it was before I came to. The back of my head was pounding in pain._ Clearly, I'm alive, _I thought as I tenderly checked myself over. I felt the back of my head, and though tender, there wasn't any major damage._ I might have a concussion though, _I thought as I moved my hands to my neck. I felt my spine, feeling for any breaks from the whiplash. I didn't feel any pain, and though my neck was a little sore when I moved it, I was confident enough that it wasn't injured. That's when I finally opened my eyes and looked around._

Danielle, _was the first thought that came to mind. I stood up, only to feel searing pain shoot through my shoulder. It brought me to my knees as I cried out, remembering why I had lost my grip on Danielle._ It's definitely dislocated, _I thought as I cradled my arm. I looked toward the back of the plane, took a deep breath, and scooted on my knees in a desperate attempt to find Danielle._

 _It didn't take long for not only my shoulder to ache, but my knees to scream in agony as I continued to scoot across the floor of the plane. It was hard to see through the darkness and clouds of steam filling the cabin, and I jumped when I felt something brush against my leg. I looked back to see a hand. I felt my heart in my throat as I turned to see the hand's owner, only to find that it wasn't Danielle, but rather the flight attendant Morganne knew. He lay sprawled between rows, his neck turned at an odd angle. I gently picked up his wrist, only to find his skin cold to the touch. A quick check of the pulse confirmed my suspicions, he was dead._

I jerk myself awake, sitting up in the bed. I glance around to see that I'm home, and I look beside me to see Callie still fast asleep. I glanced over at the clock on my bedside table, _3:43 A.M._ I sigh as I carefully lay myself back down and I attempt to fall back to sleep. Thirty minutes later, after still simply staring at the ceiling fan spinning, I get up to get a shower to clear my head.

It has been almost a week since we came home from Florida. Our lab results from the crash came back at the beginning of this week and Chloe and I begin working on the investigation tomorrow. With Callie's help, my shoulder is continuing to improve, and Avary has learned to hobble on her own with a crutch. Her first appointment to fit her for a prosthetic is next week, and she's excited to get a "robot leg" as she calls it. Callie and my relationship is still wonderful, though we have yet to "cross the Southern border" as Callie puts it. And I am hesitant to introduce her to my parents as my girlfriend for fear of their rejection.

But today isn't just the last day of a mini vacation from work. Today is Danielle's funeral. I undress and step into the shower as I let the hot water run down my face and body. I allow myself to sob, my tears mixing with the running water.

I don't know how much time passes before I finally begin washing. I finally finish up my shower and turn off the water, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around my torso. Realizing I forgot clothes, I open the door to my bedroom. I look up at Callie, who is awake and cuddling a sleeping Avary. I look at the clock and my eyes widen as I see it read _7:12 A.M._ "She had a nightmare," Callie begins. "You weren't in the bed, so I just let her lay down next to me and she fell back to sleep." I nod as I start to walk over to my dresser to grab clothes. "Hey, are you okay?" Callie asks, noticing my bright red eyes.

I shake my head. "No," I sob as I walk over to Callie. She pulls me close as I sob into her shoulder, my wet hair dripping onto her clothes and the bed sheets. I look over to see Avary still sleeping as I continue to sob. Callie kisses my cheek as I try and calm myself, pulling away to look at her.

"We're going to get through this today," Callie says as she cups my still damp face in her hands. I nod as she adds, "You've got at least me and Paige and Chloe here for you. You're going to get through this. I promise."

I nod as I lay my head against the woman's chest again. I stay there for a few minutes before I whisper, "Thank you." I breathe a sigh, fully composing myself as I stand up.

Callie glances at the bed and her pajamas. "Now that you've gotten me and the bed all wet, go get dressed," she says with a smirk and I smile back as I grab clothes and walk back to the bathroom.

The funeral was at 11 that morning at the church I grew up at. It was the church that Danielle had attended for most of her life, and though circumstances has caused my family and me to leave the church, it still feels somewhat like home. Callie pulls into the parking lot and parks the car, getting out to get Avary's crutch and get Avary out of the car. I continue to sit in the car, I can barely bring myself to open the car door. Callie finally walks around and opens my door and she looks at me sympathetically. "Come on, love," she says. "You'll regret it if you don't do this. You regret not being able to be there for Morganne's." I nod as I take a breath and get out of the car, walking over to Avary who begins hobbling towards the doors on her crutch. I feel my body begin to shake as I approach the doors. I feel Callie rubbing my back. "We can do this Av," she says as I stand before the door. I nod as I open the door and walk in.

The service was beautiful. It was a beautiful celebration of Danielle's life, and for that I was grateful. I clutched Callie's hand the entire time, trying to keep myself from sobbing. She rubbed my hand with her thumb as the service continued. When it was time to pay our respects, I couldn't bare to look into the coffin. I simply walked over to her mom and sister and hugged them tightly. "I am so, so sorry." I whispered to them as the three of us cried together. Nine years ago, I had been there to comfort them over the death of Danielle's father. Never would I have imagined doing the same thing for Danielle.

We follow the ceremony to the gravesite. Danielle is buried next to her father in a beautiful graveyard not far from the church. After the ceremony, I leave Avary with Callie and take a rose and walk over to another grave stone. Engraved on it is "Morganne Guess". I set a rose in front of the marble and say, "I'm sorry I didn't make it to your funeral, Morganne," I say to the stone. "I wanted to, I really did, but I was stuck in Tennessee…I'm sorry. And I'm sorry I failed, and that Danielle is dead. I couldn't take care of her. But I promise to take care of Avary and be the mom that Danielle didn't live long enough to be." With tears running down my face, I finally add, "If you can hear me, give Danielle a hug for me. And tell her I'm sorry. I love you both." I stand up and wipe my eyes and look behind me to see Callie and Avary walk over to me. I hug them both, glancing around before kissing Callie as I say, "Let's go home."

* * *

 _ ***Announcement*** Please go read my bio to see the big news regarding my profile! It's pretty big and pretty cool!_


	12. Chapter 12 WARNING

***Warning!*** _Hey there guys! So this chapter has a small, pretty subtle sex scene in it. It doesn't go into much detail at all, but I felt I had to warn you all before you read it._

* * *

 _ **Chapter 12**_

Today is the day the investigation really takes off. While Callie takes Avary to be fitted for a prosthetic leg, I head to the Southeast Region headquarters in Jacksonville to meet up with Chuck and Chloe. We have the black box data back, which includes the cockpit voice recorder and flight data. We lay out the data in front of us, along with the tape of the recording and weather data from the night of the crash. We sit down at a table and begin to brainstorm.

 _When I woke up, we were about an hour and a half away from landing at Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. There, we would have a two-hour layover before hopping on another plane to head to Jacksonville. Danielle was still asleep, so I quietly opened my window to look outside. It had gotten dark, and the night sky dimmed by the clouds above us. I noticed small white particles fly past the window._ Snow? _I asked myself._ Where on earth would it be snowing in April? _I looked down, and barely visible are the white peaks of mountains._ We aren't supposed to be flying over mountains, _I thought concerned._ The nearest large mountain range is north of where our flight plan was online.

 _I nudged Danielle, who groaned slightly. "Wake up," I said gently. "I think we're off our flight path."_

 _Danielle slowly opened her eyes and looked out the window. She noticed the mountains and shook her head. "There are mountains in Tennessee, Av," she mumbled. "We're fine. Don't be so paranoid." She laid her head back down._

" _But these mountains are too big for the ones I saw on the flight path," I said concerned. But Danielle ignored me as she attempted to fall back to sleep. I sighed and continued to look out the window. Maybe there would be some clue to give me a piece of mind; that we were on our correct flight path._

 _Suddenly, the intercom crackled to life as one of the pilots began to talk. "This is your captain speaking. We have been slightly delayed from getting to our destination. Don't worry, my copilot and I have everything under control, and we will be back on track in just a few minutes. Thank you for your patience."_

I look at the GPS data from the plane and say, "So this is why the plane was going over the mountains in the first place. The GPS was set for an airport in West Virginia instead of the layover destination of North Carolina. The GPS coordinates are very similar, so one of the pilots may have just accidently typed the wrong number in."

"That explains why they were off course," Chuck says.

"You can see here that about five minutes before the crash, the coordinates were changed," I add.

"So that's why there were off course," Chloe mentions, "but that doesn't explain in any way why the plane fell out of the sky."

 _No sooner did those words leave my mouth that the plane began to experience turbulence. It lasted for a couple of seconds, before it calmed again. I felt the plane turning and took a look outside. "It was probably just some wind from this snow storm," I said aloud. I tightened my seat belt as I glanced over at Danielle. "Think I should go check on the others?" I asked, sensing her slightly worried body language. She nodded, as I then asked, "Will you be ok here?" She nodded again, but before I could undo my seat belt, the plane was rocked with another gust of wind, the plane resting at a sharper angle, seemingly too sharp for a turn. Danielle clutched the arm of her seat, and I noticed that her seat belt wasn't on. I took a deep breath and said, "I'll go check on them as soon as this turbulence dies down a bit." She nodded as I said, "You maybe should put your seat belt-"_

"The plane was slightly tilted as the pilots put it back on the right flight path. Right after, there was some pretty bad turbulence that hit the plane three separate times, the plane tilting more each time it was hit," I say.

"Until it finally fell out of the sky," Chloe finishes. I nod.

"They were flying through a storm," Chuck mentions. "It wasn't awful, but it had some pretty bad wind gusts and some sub-zero temperatures from that high up."

"So why didn't the pilots try to correct the plane?" Chloe asks.

"They did," I answer. I slide her the flight data and say, "The pilots tried to widen the turn and level the plane some after the first gust of turbulence."

"But the plane didn't move," Chuck says. "The tilt never changes outside of the gusts of wind."

"Could there have been a rudder reversal?" I ask. Chloe and Chuck look at me confused before I continue, "Remember those three flights that involved 737s? The two, United Airlines Flight 585 and USAir Flight 427 that crashed and the one, Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 that was able to land safely. They had a hard rudder reversal after certain conditions caused the servo valve in the rudder to jam and reverse the rudder direction. Meaning the pilots had to turn left to go right. Boeing did fix the issue for the rudders in their 737 planes, but then made the rudder bigger for the 767, which is the plane involved in Flight 437. Could they perhaps have undone their fix when they made the rudder for the 767?"

"I remember those cases," Chuck says. "Along with the fix for the rudder, there was pilot training to prepare pilots in case this situation were to happen again. We'll have to test the valve, but if they didn't follow their training, a rudder reversal and pilot error could have caused the crash."

"Let's listen to the cockpit voice recorder," Chloe says. "Maybe we can get some clues from that and compare it to the data." Chuck pulls the cockpit tape over and presses play.

" _Do you feel that tilt George?" Kelvin, the first officer said._

" _Yeah," Cavell, the captain, responded. "I'm trying to correct it and it's not working."_

" _Is it a rudder reversal?" Kelvin asked. "Did you try going the other way?"_

" _Yes, but the rudder isn't jammed. I can push on both pedals fine, but the rudder isn't moving." Cavell responded, panic rising in his voice. "Oh God, we're falling-"_

Chuck stops the tape and I take a breath, not even realizing that I was holding it. Chloe puts a hand on my back as Chuck rubs his eyes and says, "I still want to test the rudder. I think that's where our issue is. But it wasn't a reversal."

"The data confirms what they were saying," Chloe adds.

I sigh. "I guess we just wait for the lab to test the rudder and then we reconvene?" I ask. Chloe and Chuck nod and I thank them as I leave the conference room. Discouraged at not having answers, I feel a lump forming in my throat as I walk out to my car and drive home.

I arrive home at around 5 that evening. I open the door and see Avary walk over to me. Though still using her crutch, she now has two feet instead of one and her gait is much more normal. My eyes widen in excitement as Avary yells, "Mommy look! I got my robot leg!" She pulls up her pants leg to show me the shiny, new prosthetic.

"I see that!" I say as I crouch down to hug her. I look up to see Callie walk out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. "Her appointment went well I see," I say as I stand up and walk over to my girlfriend.

Callie nods, "Very. The doctor said that she was doing so great that she could go ahead and take it home. He said that she shouldn't need but a couple more appointments before she fully gets the hang of it." She smiles at me before pointing to the kitchen and saying, "I'm cooking dinner and it should be ready in about fifteen minutes if you want to change out of your work clothes."

I nod. "Thank you," I say as I lean in and kiss Callie. I pull away and start to walk away before turning to say, "Oh, by the way, I made plans to go have dinner with my parents tomorrow night. I haven't had a chance to go see them since being back, and I need to get my dog from them and bring her home. And I figured they should meet their granddaughter."

"Okay, that's fine," Callie says as she starts to walk back into the kitchen.

"And I wanted them to meet you too," I add sheepishly.

Callie steps back and looks at me, "Do what now?"

I smile a little and repeat, "I want my parents to meet you."

Callie raises an eyebrow, "Your homophobic, 'you-will-never-see-your-sister-if-you-bring-a-girl-home' parents?" I nod sheepishly as Callie shakes her head, "We're talking about this later. Go get changed so we can eat." I nod and I walk back into the bedroom to change out of my work clothes into yoga pants and a big t-shirt. It takes me a minute to realize that it's actually Callie's shirt, but I simply shrug as I walk back out to see Callie setting plates on the table. I walk over and help Avary into her seat as Callie sets her plate down at the table and takes her seat. I sit down and after saying grace with Avary, we begin to eat.

A couple hours later, after tucking Avary in for the night, Callie and I are laying in my bed in our pajamas watching the TV in my room, me curled up against the taller woman. As Callie strokes my hair, she places a kiss on the top of my head and asks, "How did investigating go today?"

I shake my head, "We keep coming to dead ends. Nothing is making sense. And I'm getting super discouraged. I just need answers." I swallow back a lump in my throat as Callie gently squeezes me.

Callie sighs before looking down at me and asking, "So you really want me to meet your parents tomorrow?"

I sigh. "You are the first real relationship I've ever had. I want them to meet you."

"And what if they reject you?" Callie asks. "Are you prepared for that?"

"I was actually thinking about that," I say as I look up at Callie. "You weren't the only person I came out to. I had originally thought I was bi, because I had liked a couple of guys, mostly movie characters, and I felt like I could live with that because at least there would be a possibility I could marry a guy and never have to tell my parents. And my friend told me that I was wrong, that I'm 100% gay."

"Well, you are," Callie says with a chuckle. "I knew you for all of five minutes and could have told you that. In fact, I did!"

I chuckle as I continue, "But my friend, who is _actually_ bi, told me this, 'I knew I was bi because I have had sex with both a guy and a girl. And I enjoyed sex with both of them.' When I thought about it that way, it confirmed that I was gay because the idea of having sex with a guy was repulsive." Callie laughs as I sit up and turn to face her, "But I thought about it after I made the dinner plans with my parents that…what if I don't like sex with girls either? What if I am actually asexual and hate sex in general? I mean, my sex drive is pretty bad so I doubt that, but I want to know that I know I'm gay before I tell my parents."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Callie asks with a mischievous smile on her face.

I nod as I lean in and whisper in Callie's ear, "I want to have sex with you, Calliope."

"Well it's about freaking time," Callie says with a smile. She carefully grabs the bottom of my shirt and pulls it over my head and tosses it off the bed, and I do the same with hers. I take a breath, feeling nervous. Callie pulls my chin up to look at me, "Hey, this is your first time, right?" I nod as she smiles and adds, "It's okay to feel nervous. We'll take it slow." I smile back at her and lean in to kiss her. I reach my hands around her and after a confirming nod, unhook her bra. She slides it down her arms and throws it to the side of the bedroom, still having her lips locked on mine. I finally break away and look at Callie, gasping at the sight of her. She smiles and asks, "You ready?" I look back up at her eyes and definitively nod as she leans in to kiss me, beginning to make out with me as she reaches around and unhooks my bra and takes it off of me and throws it. Within minutes, we are fully undressed, with only the sheet covering our bodies. It lasts almost an hour and is one of the most pleasurable experiences of my life. When we are through, I curl up against Callie, rubbing my fingers along her bare chest. She giggles and kisses my forehead. I look up at her and smile, before kissing her tenderly.

I pull away and look into the surgeon's eyes. "You just took my virginity away tonight," I say with a smile.

"You know, I've actually never taken anyone's virginity away," Callie says, before putting a hand on my face and adding, "Until tonight." She kisses me again, and I put a hand on her face as hers slides down my neck and rests on my chest. She pulls away and looks at me with a playful smile. "So, what's the verdict?" she asks.

"I'm so gay," I say with a chuckle and a huge smile.

Callie wraps her arms around me and hugs me. "I'm so proud of you," Callie says. "No matter what happens tomorrow, I want you to hold onto that. You have accepted yourself for who you are and you can feel confident in knowing that you can be happy with the woman of your dreams, whether that's me or someone else down the line."

"So far, that woman seems to be you," I say smiling.

Callie smiles back. "Arizona was the woman of my dreams. I didn't think I would ever find someone to love like that ever again. Until now." I smile and I lean in to kiss her again. She pulls away and says, "I love you, Aviana Jennison."

I smile and respond, "And I love you, Calliope Torres." I kiss her one last time as we both lay down in the bed. I curl up next to Callie, resting my head on her chest and wrapping my arm around her bare waist. Despite the day I had, Callie somehow made it all better. Listening to her steady breathing and heartbeat, knowing that this is real and not just a dream, I allow myself to drift off. But not before thinking, _I think I want this…to be lying here at night with her, for the rest of my life._


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter 13**_

The following night, Callie, Avary, and I head over to my parents' house for dinner. Avary seems excited to meet her grandparents and bring my dog, Sadie, home. Callie seems extremely nervous, and to be honest, I am too. I hope my parents will accept me for who I am, but I don't know if they will.

I pull up to the house and park the car. I take a breath before getting out of the car, Callie already out and unbuckling Avary. She helps Avary get out of the car and hands her the crutch as I walk around the car to meet them. I grab Avary's free hand and look at Callie for reassurance before walking to the front door.

I open the front door and help Avary in. "Aviana!" I hear yelled across the house as Bri runs over and jumps in my arms. I hug her tight and kiss her cheek as she says, "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, squirt," I answer as I set her down. I hear a whine as I hear the lumbering run of a bloodhound as I look and see Sadie. "Hey Sadie!" I say as I bend down to pet my dog, immediately being licked across the face. I hug her before standing up and seeing my parents walk in from the kitchen.

"Hey!" they yell as they walk over and hug me. I feel happy tears prick my eyes as I hug them tight.

I pull away after several seconds, looking down at Avary and saying, "Mom, Dad, I would like you to meet your granddaughter, Avary."

"Hey sweetheart, come see Pops!" my dad says as he crouches down with his arms outstretched. Avary walks over to him and hugs him as he picks her up.

"Avary," I say as I point to my parents, "this is your Geo and Pops." Avary smiles as my mom leans over to hug her granddaughter.

"Who's this?" my mom asks, pointing to Callie as she pulls away from Avary.

I freeze for a moment, panic rising in my chest as I stutter, "This is…A-Avary's doctor. This is Dr. Torres."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Jennison," Callie says as she extends her hand. "Please call me Callie."

My mom shakes Callie's hand as she responds, "In that case, call me Portia." She points to my dad and adds, "This is my husband, Bill."

"Nice to meet you," my dad says as he shakes Callie's hand.

"Well, have a seat," my mom says as she gestures to the living room. "Dinner should be ready in about thirty minutes. Callie, feel free to make yourself at home."

"Thank you," Callie says with a smile as my mom turns toward the kitchen. Callie gives me a look and look down before I feel a tug on my shirt.

"Can Avary come into my room with me?" Bri asks looking up at me.

I nod and look over to Avary, "Avary, this is your Aunt Bri. Do you want to go to her room and play with her?" Avary nods excitedly and hops off my dad's lap.

Bri walks over and takes Avary's hand. "I'll show you all my toys we can play with. And you can just call me Bri," she says as she leads Avary away. I smile for a minute, my heart hurting that this may never happen again.

Dinner was served shortly after. My mom and dad interrogated Callie, asking her questions about her family, career, interests, everything. Shortly after dinner, we moved to the living room and continued talking. My dad insisted on a game of Wii Frisbee Golf, and so we played a few rounds of that while the girls played. Soon, we were simply seated in the living room chatting.

I knew that now was the time to do it. I look at Callie briefly and take a deep breath, "Mom, Dad…I know I introduced Callie as Avary's doctor. I mean…she is Avary's doctor. She was the one who operated on her leg when it was first injured, then amputating her leg to save her life, and she has worked with Avary on residual limp therapy and then walking with a crutch and now her prosthetic. But she…she's more than that." I take Callie's hand, more for comfort, and finally say, "She's…my girlfriend."

The room goes dead silent. If it weren't for the giggles of Bri and Avary from the bedroom, you could hear a pen drop. My mom opens her mouth a few times to speak before finally saying, "Before I react, you do mean romantically, right?" I gulp as I nod. You can see the anger filling her face. She turns to Callie. "How dare you defile my daughter?" she asks, venom dripping from her words.

I hold my hand out, almost shielding Callie from my mother. "She did not defile me. I had feelings for her before I ever got to know the amazing woman that she is. I had a crush on her from the moment I laid eyes on her. And before you say that you wish that I never met her, if I hadn't, Avary would be dead."

"I would rather that have happened," my mom says blankly. My jaw drops.

"How can you say that about a little girl?!" Callie shouts appalled.

"Because she would be in Heaven and my daughter wouldn't have 'fallen in love' with some abomination like you!" my mother growls.

I stand up. "Do not call her that!" I yell. "I don't care who you are to me, you do _not_ talk about her that way! Because if anyone is the abomination, it's _you_!"

"Get out," my mother hisses. "Take this woman and your dog and get the _hell_ out of my house!"

"Mommy, what's going on?" Bri asks emotionally, holding Avary's hand next to her.

I look over at Avary, "Avary, it's time to go, baby."

Avary lets go of Bri's hand and walks over to me. "Why?" Bri asks emotionally. She starts to run over to me and my mom grabs her hand.

"Do not touch her," my mother growls. "She is not your sister anymore." I feel my heart shatter as I physically gasp at the pain of those words. Callie squeezes my hand in comfort as I stare at Bri.

"Why?!" Bri asks, tears forming in her eyes. I feel tears slowly trail down my face.

"Because she's dating that woman!" my mother screams as she points at Callie. Bri looks between my mother, Callie, and me.

"What is wrong with that?" Bri asks, now crying. "Why can't she be my sister anymore?"

"Because God said it's wrong," my mother says. She stares daggers at me as tears continue to fall down my face.

I take a breath and try to compose myself. "Take Sadie and Avary to the car and I'll meet you out there," I whisper to Callie. She nods as she leashes Sadie, holds Avary's hand, and walks out the door, shutting it behind her.

I look at my mother dead in the face, removing all emotion from my face. My mother stares back at me and blankly says, "You know you're going to hell, right?"

I shake my head. "1 Timothy 5:8 says, 'Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.' Jesus is my savior, not you. And He would be ashamed at you for disowning me. He is the one who decides my fate and I have yet to be convicted for loving that woman the way that I do. He made me this way, whether you want to believe it or not, and He would be ashamed at what you have done tonight." I sternly look at her, not saying a word. Bri wriggles her hand away from her mom and walks over to me. I crouch down, still looking up at my mom, and hug my little sister. I kiss the top of her head and say, "I love you." I whisper to her, "No matter what Mom says, I will always be your sister." Bri cries as I let go of her and I stare at the woman who birthed and raised me, tears beginning to fill my eyes as Bri wails. I hear her scream, "Aviana, come back!" as I turn and walk out the door.

I get in the car and start it, buckling my seat belt and backing out of the driveway without saying a word to Callie or Avary. I drive out of the neighborhood and down the road until I see a small, empty parking lot. I pull in and park, putting my face in my hands as I begin to sob. Callie hesitantly puts a hand on my back, seemingly unsure if I want her comfort. After a moment, I turn and collapse into her arms and begin shaking. Callie wraps her arms around me and pulls me in as close as she can. I feel her place a kiss on the top of my head and I hug her tight, as if she were the only thing keeping me breathing. And in that moment, she was. I continue to sob, even after I stop producing tears. I finally look up at Callie and ask, "Can you drive home?" Callie nods and sits me up and gets out of the car, walking around to the driver's side and opening the door. She helps me stand up, and when I almost collapse trying to walk, she picks me up and carries me to the other side of the car, setting me down in the passenger's seat. She shuts the door and walks around to sit in the driver's seat before driving off.

I look out the window during the ride home. My family was gone. I lost the only sister I had and the parents who have loved and raised me for 24 years. I feel myself going numb as we pull up to my house. I sit in the car as Callie takes Sadie inside and carries in a now sleeping Avary and puts her to bed. She comes back and leads me inside. As I lay down in bed, I pray that this is all just a nightmare, that I would wake up and my parents would still love me and I could still see my little sister. But I knew that wouldn't happen. And little did I know that the nightmare was only just beginning.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter 14**_

It has been three months since the investigation continued. It's August now, and Avary has just started pre-K, her first year of school, a week ago. She is fully walking on her prosthetic now, only needing appointments every six months now to check on the prosthetic and to see if she's ready for a bigger one as she continues to grow. Callie and I are still going strong, only becoming closer since everything that happened at my parents' house. Though she could have gone back to Tennessee two months ago, she has chosen to move to Florida permanently, quitting her job in Tennessee and looking for a position as an orthopedic surgeon here. She has helped pull me out of the dark place I fell into after my parents disowned me, and for that, I owe her my life.

The investigation has come to a bit of a standstill. The lab results have come back normal for the servo valve in the rudder. We tested it under every circumstance we could think of, along with testing a brand-new valve that had never been placed in a plane before. Nothing indicated a reason for the valve to have caused the rudder to stop working the night of the crash. Two weeks ago, Chuck regrettably marked the case as inconclusive until further evidence is found. I cannot stand the idea of the case being left unsolved. I need answers.

Callie and I are sitting in my living room on our laptops on this late Wednesday morning. I have been staring at the evidence for what feels like years now, trying to find a lead anywhere as to what caused the crash. _There has to be something,_ I think to myself.

I vaguely hear Callie gasp but I don't look up from my computer. "I got the chief of orthopedic surgery position at Shands Hospital in Gainesville!" Callie squeals from across the room. I only nod at her statement, and I feel her stare but I don't acknowledge it. "This is something you should be excited about! Your girlfriend got the job she wanted! The one that was the closest thing to the job she loved in Seattle! Hello?!"

"Sorry," I respond bluntly. "I'm just trying to work on this case."

"That's all you ever do is work on that case!" Callie almost yells as I continue to look at the computer screen. "For the past two weeks, all you've done is stare at that computer screen like if you stare at it long enough, an answer is going to magically jump into your lap."

"You know that this case is important to me," I blankly answer, still looking at the computer screen. "I can't just leave it unsolved. I have to find a reason for why this plane crashed."

"Maybe there isn't a reason!" Callie says as she stands up. "Sometimes things happen and we have no idea why. The answer just isn't for us to know. Maybe that's what's going on with this case. You need to let it go! Stop killing yourself over a dead-end case!"

"I need answers, Callie!" I shout, slamming my laptop closed and standing up, glaring at the surgeon. "I need answers for why Danielle and Morganne died in or because of that crash! Their families need answers as to why they had to bury their sister and daughters! One day, Avary is going to need answers as to why she's adopted and why her birth parents are dead!" I take a deep breath before shouting, "And I need answers as to why the plane I was on went down!"

Callie gasps and looks at me, sympathy and regret filling her eyes. I feel tears prick the back of mine. We stare at each other in silence for several moments, the tension and weight of what I said almost filling the room. I swallow and take a breath before I continue, my voice full of emotion, "We were just coming back from vacation. A vacation _I_ planned. A vacation Paige almost went on. I could have lost _Paige_ too! I need to know why that plane went down. I need answers as to why Danielle and Morganne died. I need a reason for their deaths. Because right now, the only thing I can tell myself is that I killed them!" I feel tears falling down my face now as I look into Callie's. Her eyes are also full of tears as she walks over to me, her arms open. I walk into them, pressing myself against the taller woman's body, putting my head to her chest. I needed to hear her heartbeat, I needed to hear her breathing. I feel a tear splash onto my head.

Callie strokes my hair as she places her chin on my head. "You never told me you were on the crash too," she says, her voice thick with emotion. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't tell anyone," I state. "The only people who knew were the ones who knew I was on that plane. Chuck doesn't even know I was on it. He knew I had friends on it, but he doesn't know I was on it. But that's how I dislocated my shoulder and why I needed surgery. Danielle didn't have her seat belt on…and when the plane fell…she-she started to fly back to the back of the plane and I grabbed her hand…but it dislocated w-when another gust of wind hit the plane…and then I let go of her hand." I sob against Callie's chest as I say, "I'm the reason Danielle is dead. If I hadn't let go, if I had been stronger and just muscled through the pain-"

"Look at me," Callie says as she gently grabs my face and turns it towards her. "Do not for one-minute blame yourself for Danielle's death. It wasn't your fault. Your ligaments tore because of the pull she had on your arm. There would have been no way for you to not let go of her. There was nothing you did to cause it, and nothing you could have done to stop it. It's _not_ your fault." I hear her take a shaky breath before adding, "I have torn myself apart blaming myself for Arizona's death. If I had not been in surgery, if I had caught it sooner, if I had not promised not to cut her leg off, she would have been alive. And the fact is that no one would have cut off her leg until we realized that it wouldn't recover from the infection, and by the time the team figured that out, she had gone down hill too quickly. Do not tear yourself apart blaming yourself like I did." I look up at her as I see tears running down her face. I feel tears continue to run down my cheeks as I hug her, taking in her smell and touch as the only comforting things that can comfort me. I finally start to calm myself down, breathing normally again and my face beginning to dry.

I look up at Callie who looks back at me lovingly. "Thank you," I say to her. I reach up to kiss her and she holds my face gently.

After a few moments she pulls away, stroking my cheek as she says, "I love you more than you realize."

I smile at her. "I love you so much," I respond. I wrap my arms around her, pressing my body against her for what feels like forever. I feel Callie pull an arm away to look at her watch. "Is it time to pick up Avary?" I ask, looking up at Callie.

She nods. "Want to come with me?" she asks. I smile but shake my head. She gives me a quick kiss before walking out the door.

I walk over to the window and stare out of it, watching Callie pull out of the driveway. Suddenly, I feel my phone buzz in my pocket, and I pull it out to see Gloria calling me. I answer it, "Hello?"

"Hey Aviana, it's Gloria," Gloria says back. "I have some news for you. The diligent family search has been completed, and I'm filing it now. We haven't found any family members that are willing to take Avary, so it looks like you are the best candidate for adoption!" I feel my heart rise in my chest in excitement as Gloria continues, "We have to do your fingerprints and get paperwork filed, but I am officially listing you as the pre-adoptive parent!"

"Thank you so much!" I say into the phone, happiness in my voice. I look out the window before saying. "I did have a question for you though."

"Go for it," Gloria replies.

"If…say I was in a serious relationship with someone I would…seriously consider marrying, maybe possibly before an adoption could take place, would it be possible for them to get fingerprinted and checked out as well so they could be the second adoptive parent?"

I hear Gloria chuckle on the other line. "Of course," she answers. "We can get them all checked out so they can adopt her with you. Just keep in mind that you two have to be legally married for you two to be able to adopt her on the same day. If you're not married, then your spouse can file for adoption later."

"Okay!" I say excitedly into the phone. "Thank you so much, Gloria!"

"Of course," she responds. "I'll be in touch with you about getting the adoption paperwork started and I'll keep you in the loop. Bye-bye now." I hear the phone click as I jump excitedly. I look out the window to see Callie pulling back in. I wait anxiously for her to walk into the door with Avary. I see the door open and I go to hug Avary, kissing her on the head as I reach up to kiss Callie. Avary quickly runs off to her room to play as I look up at Callie.

"I need to talk to you about something," I say with a smile on my face. I slowly lead Callie to the couch to sit down.

"Okay?" Callie says confused as she sits down on the couch.

"Gloria called while you were gone," I start. "She finished the diligent search. There is no family that wants her."

"So that means you can adopt her?" Callie asks. I nod and she hugs me excitedly. "That's awesome Av!"

I nod before saying, "I know this is kind of sudden to bring this up, but I feel that this relationship is serious. I love you, and I know you love me. You are great with Avary, and you feel like a part of this family. If say…we were to get married, how would you feel about adopting Avary too and being her second mom?"

Callie covers her mouth as tears fill her eyes, but I can tell by her expression that they're happy tears. She simply nods before asking, "Can she call me 'Mama'?" I smile and nod and she throws her arms around me, kissing me. She pulls away after several seconds before looking at me and saying, "We're going to be moms!" I nod and kiss her again, living in this moment of excited bliss. Though it looks like the investigation may remain unanswered, perhaps life has taken a turn for the better.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Chapter 15**_

It's November; specifically, the Saturday before Thanksgiving. As I sit on the couch and watch Callie and Avary play a game together, my mind is elsewhere. I'm looking at facing my first Thanksgiving without my parents. And not because my parents are dead; they're only a few miles way. No, I won't be spending Thanksgiving with them because they have cut me out of their life. I feel my heart break once again at the idea and I swallow hard to keep myself from crying.

I barely notice Callie look up at me. I subconsciously took off my glasses to rub my eyes so I can't make out her facial expression. I hear her whisper, "I'll be right back, hon," as she stands and walks out of the room. I put my glasses back on and look down at Avary. She looks at me curiously and I give her a smile to mask the pain I'm in. I'm not entirely sure it's to hide it from her or to convince myself it's not there.

It doesn't fool Avary though. She clumsily stands up, as a four-year-old with a prosthetic isn't the most graceful person in the world. After gaining her balance, she walks over to me and curls up on the couch next to me. "Mommy, are you sad?" Avary softly asks. I look down at her, swallowing again to keep my emotions down.

"I'm fine," I answer, without directly answering her question. I can tell she sees past my answer, but thankfully, she doesn't insist on questioning me further. Instead, she snuggles into me, wrapping her arms around me. I squeeze her tight and give her a small kiss on her forehead.

"Snuggles make me feel better when I'm sad," Avary says. "Do they make you feel better when you're sad?" She looks up at me and I nod, giving her a small smile as she snuggles even closer. "Good," she says, "cause you need someone to cheer you up." I smile down at the little girl in my arms and give her another kiss on top of her head. _And this is what gets me through,_ I think to myself as I cuddle Avary. It's not long before she falls asleep and by the time Callie walks back in, we're both asleep on the couch.

I wake up a few hours later to find Avary had left to go play elsewhere. I rub my eyes and groan at the pounding headache I always get after a nap. "Welcome back to the land of the wake," I hear Callie tease as she looks up from her laptop on the other side of the couch. I hear the TV playing HGTV as she works on some paper work.

I stretch as I scoot over and plant a kiss on Callie's cheek, "What can I say, cuddles make me sleepy."

"Is that why you fall asleep every night before I can ask for sex?" Callie asks jokingly and I laugh.

"I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you at some point," I say as I look up into Callie's eyes.

"Oh yeah?" Callie asks as she leans in for a kiss.

I kiss her back before pulling away, "When the four-year-old is asleep though." Callie groans and I chuckle as I give her another kiss.

"I did want to ask you a question though," Callie says as I sit up and face her. "I know you've had a hard time dealing with the idea of being alone this Thanksgiving, without an extended family to be with. And so, my dad had reached out to me to offer for me to come have Thanksgiving with them, especially since he was worried about me and this being my first Thanksgiving without Arizona and away from Seattle. And I had told him that I had met you and was living with you and Avary and I would have to bring you guys, and he told me that he wanted me to bring you two. My _mom_ even wanted you guys to come, and she didn't talk to me throughout my entire marriage with Arizona. So, what I wanted to ask is: do you want to have Thanksgiving dinner with my parents?"

I pause. I feel a flood of emotions. Relief that I can have a family to spend the holiday with. Excitement, since Callie values me enough that she wants to introduce me to her parents. But the greatest of all is anxiety. Would they like me? Would I live up to their expectations? Would they think I was using Callie? What if they hated me and convinced Callie to cut ties with me?

I swallow hard. "You think they would be okay with me?" I question. I study Callie's face for any sign of unsureness.

"They'd love you, Av," Callie responds, noticing the anxiety in my demeanor.

"Then if that's what you want to do, I'm game for it," I say. The idea of not spending Thanksgiving alone with just the three of us is appealing enough that I could push down the anxiety. But the thought of meeting Callie's parents still terrifies me. But I can tell that this is what Callie wants and she thinks it would help me, so I shove my fear down and agree.

It's now Thanksgiving, and we are making the drive down to her parents' home. It's a four hour or so drive from my house, so we left first thing in the morning so we could arrive before noon. I am mostly quiet on the drive there. My mind races with worry of how her parents will react to me and Avary. Callie notices and holds my hand, but my mind continues to race.

We arrive at her parents' house by 11:45 that morning. Callie parks in the driveway and helps Avary out of the car. I take a deep breath and finally step out of the car as Callie is putting Avary's backpack on her back. "You ready?" Callie says excitedly. I can tell that this dinner means a lot for her, her excited expression and demeanor apparent since she suggested the idea. I simply nod as we walk up to the door and she knocks.

A couple of minutes later, we hear the latch unlocking and the door creaks open. In the door way is a taller, older man. He gives a huge smile to Callie as he reaches out to her. " _Mija_ ," he calls as Callie hugs him.

"Daddy," Callie says as she squeezes her father tight. After a minute or so, she pulls away and gestures to me. "Dad, I'd like you to meet my two favorite girls in the whole world, Aviana and Avary."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Torres," I say as I stick my hand out to shake his hand. Mr. Torres firmly takes my hand and shakes it.

"The pleasure is all mine," Mr. Torres says as he releases my hand. "Calliope talks a lot about you; and she speaks very highly of you too." He gives me a small smile before looking down at Avary. "How are you sweetheart?" he says as he bends down to be on Avary's level.

"Avary, this is Mr. Torres," I say as I introduce her to Callie's father.

"So, you're Mama's dad?" Avary asks as she looks up at the older man. I nervously look over at Callie, who gets a look from her father.

"She calls us both 'mom', since we kind of both share the role," Callie quickly and almost nervously explains. _What is she nervous about?_ I think to myself.

Mr. Torres looks back at Avary and nods. "Yes, I am her father," he answers with a smile.

"So, does that make you my grandpa?" Avary asks. Callie and I look at each other nervously.

Mr. Torres chuckles, "I guess it does, doesn't it? But how about you call me 'Abuelo', since that's grandpa in Spanish. Sound good?" Avary nods as she reaches up and hugs the man. I hear Callie let out a sigh of relief as Mr. Torres says, "Now, let get you ladies inside. Dinner won't be too much longer." He leads us inside and offers for us to set our bags in a coat closet off the foyer. Avary carries her backpack into the living room, where she takes a toy out to play with. I sit down by Avary, as Callie and Mr. Torres walk towards the kitchen. I let out a nervous sigh as I make sure Avary doesn't make a mess.

Callie returns a few minutes later, bringing an older woman. "Aviana and Avary, I'd like you to meet my mom," Callie says.

I stand to greet the woman. I stick out my hand and say, "Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Torres."

"Nice to meet you as well," Mrs. Torres responds, a little forcefully. She does take my hand and shake it briefly before dropping it. I glance at Callie who avoids eye contact with me. "Well, I best get back to the kitchen. Dinner is almost ready." Mrs. Torres walks off as Callie sighs and sits down on the couch to watch Avary. I sit down next to her, trying to get a read on what she's feeling with no such success.

We sit in silence watching Avary play for about a half an hour. Finally, Mr. Torres calls, "Dinner's ready!" and Callie scoops up Avary and leads the way to the dinning room. The turkey and sides are placed at the center of the table, with placemats for each person placed around it. We all have a seat after Mr. Torres blesses the meal and begin passing the food. Dinner was mostly contained small talk, mostly things about where I worked, questions about Avary, where I was from, things of that nature. While Mr. Torres seemed very welcoming, Mrs. Torres seemed a little more distant and closed off in regards to conversation.

After dinner was over, Mrs. Torres gathers the dishes and heads for the kitchen. Callie and Mr. Torres follow behind as I take Avary to the living room to play. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Torres walks back out and sits in a chair across from me. He smiles at Avary playing on the floor as he looks up at me and says, "Calliope really seems to like you. She hasn't talked about anyone like this besides Arizona. You really seemed to help her cope with the loss of Arizona."

I nod as I say, "It's definitely been mutual. Callie has helped me through a lot herself. I lost two good friends right before and right after I met her. They died because of that plane crash everyone's been talking about. And she's helped with mine and Avary's injuries from that plane crash. And…she kept me here after I lost my parents."

"She mentioned that this would be the first year that you wouldn't have Thanksgiving with your parents," Mr. Torres commented. "Did they pass away, or..."

"No," I respond sadly. "They disowned me when I told them that Callie was my girlfriend. And because of that, I don't get to see my little sister either." I pause for a minute, swallowing hard to keep the tears down.

Mr. Torres looks down, "I am so sorry to hear that. Callie understands what you're going through. I am ashamed to say that I pushed her away at first when she told me that she was dating Arizona. I cut her completely off financially and cut all communication for a while. Then I tried to bring her back home and have her quit her job while trying to 'fix' her here. But I finally realized that this was who she was, and there was nothing to change that. Her mother took much longer to come around, and even now, she still struggles with it. You'll have to forgive her, she comes across as distant and sharp, but she truly is trying to be accepting."

"It's more than what my own parents are doing for me now, so for that I am grateful," I say sincerely.

Mr. Torres looks at me. "So, you said you came out with Calliope?" he asks. I nod slowly as he asks, "And you chose to stay with her despite knowing that cutting ties with her would get you your family back?" I nod again as he says, "Wow, you truly do love my _mija_ , don't you?"

I subconsciously smile as I answer, "That would be an understatement, Mr. Torres. I adore Callie, she is the reason I get up in the morning and who I look forward to sleeping next to at night. She is my rock in the storm I've been facing, she's my everything. I don't know what I'd do without her." I feel a single tear trickle down my face as I quickly wipe it away. Mr. Torres comes over and sits down next to me, gently putting a hand on my knee.

"I want you to know that you are always welcome here," Mr. Torres says. "I don't know if you and Callie plan on getting married, but as far as I can tell, you're already a part of our family. I mean, your daughter already calls me Abuelo." I chuckle as he continues, "You don't have to be without a family anymore, do you hear me?" I nod as he reaches to hug me. I feel tears trickle down as, for the first time in several months, I felt the embrace of a father. I pull away and wipe my eyes as Callie and Mrs. Torres walk back into the living room.

"I know it's getting late and you girls have a long drive ahead of you," Mrs. Torres says. "But I want you to know that it has been a pleasure having you, and you are always welcome here."

"Thank you," I say with a smile.

"Why don't we make this a tradition?" Mr. Torres suggests as he helps Avary with her backpack. "As long as you two don't do anything stupid, what if you come down for Thanksgiving every year? You shouldn't have to celebrate this holiday alone."

"I would love that," I say sincerely as Callie nods behind me. I hug both Mr. and Mrs. Torres and thank them. We say our goodbyes and make the drive back home. While I may not even be engaged to the beautiful woman sleeping in the passenger seat, I finally feel like I have a family with hers. _I think I truly have found the one_ , I think to myself.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Chapter 16**_

It's been a month and now, it's Christmas! But it's not just any Christmas, it is my first Christmas with both Callie and Avary. Though it is also my first Christmas without my family, the family I have made myself has more than made up for it. As per Callie's suggestion, I have invited several of my friends to Christmas dinner this afternoon. While Chloe, Paige and now wife Tara are coming, I even was able to get a few friends from college to come. CeCe and Allison, friends I had made when I was an education major have stayed in touch and were eager to come for Christmas dinner. I am excited about dinner, but my thoughts return to the present as I watch Avary unwrap her last gift.

"It's a dress up doctor's set!" Avary squeals as she looks up at Callie, the obvious giver of the set. "Thank you, Mama!" Avary screams as she runs up to hug her second mother.

"You're welcome sweetheart," Callie says with a smile. With all the presents now open, Avary starts to gather the wrapping paper to throw away and takes her presents to her room. Callie stands up and walks away for a moment, and I smile at Avary's excitement as she begins playing with her new toys. Once Avary has taken the last present to her room, I hear Callie walk back and I turn to look at her. She has a smile on her face and her hands behind her back. "I have one more present for you," she says smiling.

"Okay," I say as I turn around to face her.

Callie sighs. She smiles at me as she says, "After I lost Arizona, I never thought I would find love again. I thought she was my one true love and no one could fill that role again in my life. But when I met you, I was proven wrong. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I felt this connection that has only proven stronger as we've grown close. We've shared happy moments together and we've gotten through hardships." She pauses as she slowly kneels down and continues, "Aviana Jennison, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." She pulls a small box from behind her back, opening it to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. I gasp, covering my mouth as Callie smiles and asks, "Will you marry me?"

I almost knock the box out of her hand as I throw my arms around her, kissing her as happy tears trail my face. I pull away for a moment before finally saying, "Yes!" Callie smiles as she takes the ring out of the box and slides it onto my finger. _It's perfect_ , I think as I study the ring on my finger. I turn back to Callie and kiss her again, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close. After several seconds, I pull away, looking at my now fiancée and saying, "You've officially made this the best Christmas ever!"

"You saying 'yes' made it mine," Callie responds as she kisses me again.

After relishing in the moment for a little while, Callie and I begin preparations for dinner. Callie begins cooking as I clean and put and put presents away. Christmas music plays through the air as I set the table and make sure everything is in order. At around 3, I hear the first knock on the door to find Paige and Tara on the other side. I greet them and let them in, making drinks as the others begin to arrive. Shortly after everyone has arrived, Callie finishes cooking and begins setting the food on the table. We all sit down and after saying grace, begin to make our plates. We talk as we eat about things going on about how the year has been and things we hope to happen next year.

After dinner, I look at Callie for a moment before clearing my throat and saying, "I would like to make an announcement." Everyone's head turns before I hold out my left hand, showing my ring and say, "Callie and I are engaged!" There were cheers from around the table as I kiss Callie in response and we thank everyone for their congratulations.

Later that evening, after dessert and everyone has left, I sit with Callie as we begin wedding planning. We decide on April 11 for the date. As both the crash that I was on and the crash that claimed Arizona's life occurred in April, we decided we needed something to bring happiness back to that month. We choose a venue and already begin making invitations all within 24 hours of being engaged. But the excitement of it all drives us to almost completely plan the wedding before the clock strikes midnight on December 26. April cannot come soon enough.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter 17**_

A few months have passed. I have turned 25 and a year has passed since the Flight 437 crash. But most importantly, it's April 11. Today is the day I marry my best friend.

The weather was beautiful that day, perfect for the outdoor wedding we planned. The wedding would take place at the small national park near our house. I had always said that it was the perfect place for a wedding, and now I get to be married there.

At the national park there is a building set aside for receptions. Inside that building I sit in a smaller room, surrounded by my bridesmaids as they get me ready. CeCe works on my makeup, Allison does my hair. Tara checks the gown over and over again to make sure it's perfect and Chloe watches to make sure Callie doesn't try to sneak a peek from her room across the hall. Paige, my maid of honor, stands in front of me and I smile at her.

"I'm so proud of you," Paige says as she watches CeCe and Allison work. "I knew since the moment I met you that this was who you were, and this would be what made you happy. And I am so happy that you finally chose to accept yourself for who you are."

I smile at her. "I have never been more excited and ready for something in my whole life. My heart aches that my mom won't be there and that Bri won't be my flower girl and my dad won't walk me down the aisle, but I can push all that aside because I get to marry _her_. I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with her." I feel happy tears sting the back of my eyes.

"Hey!" CeCe says sternly. "You better not start crying and mess up all my hard work! Save it for the ceremony when I can't see you ruin it up close!" I laugh as I smile at CeCe as they continue to work on preparing me for the best day of my life.

Within a few hours, I was ready to marry the love of my life. The bridesmaids walked down the isle to their places, followed by Avary as our flower girl. Callie and her father walk down the aisle to the wedding arch. Then, having no male figure to walk me down the aisle, Paige hooks her arm around mine as she walks me to the start of the aisle. I gasp at Callie as she comes into view. I have never seen her so beautiful. Paige and I walk down the aisle to the wedding arch, stopping shortly before as the pastor asks, "Who gives this bride to this woman?"

"I do," Paige says as she smiles at me. "And I'm proud to." She hugs me as she puts my hand in Callie's and walks to her spot. I stare at Callie and see her eyes are already red as she mouths, "You look beautiful." I mouth back, "I've never seen you look so beautiful."

The pastor looks between us before saying, "You may recite your vows."

Callie takes a breath before starting, "I take you, Aviana Jennison, to be my wife. Through whatever trials we may face, I promise to stand with you no matter what comes our way. I promise to share in your joy and support you in your sorrow. I promise to love and protect you until my dying breath." She drops my hand momentarily to wipe a tear off her face and then slips the ring onto my finger.

I sniff as I say, "I take you, Calliope Torres, to be my wife. For better or for worse, and sickness and in health. I promise to rejoice with you, to cry with you, and to stand by you no matter what comes our way. And I promise to love you for the rest of my life." I slip the ring onto her finger.

The pastor smiles as he says, "Then by the power invested in me by God and the state of Florida, I pronounce you wife and bride. You may kiss the bride." Callie grabs my face and presses her lips against mine as I let my hands travel down to her waist. She releases and kisses me again as the attendings cheer. Callie pulls away again and grabs my hand as the pastor says, "I present you Dr. and Mrs. Calliope Torres!" Everyone cheers again as we walk back down the aisle to the building for the reception.

The reception was absolutely beautiful, decked out in teal and peach, our wedding colors. Cheers erupt as Callie and I walk in and sit down at our table. Our wedding party follows soon after along with their spouses. Callie's bridesmaids, Meredith, Cristina, Jo, Maggie, and Miranda, were all coworkers she had from when she was in Seattle. I was surprised that they had been so willing to come all the way to Florida to be in our wedding. I greeted them as they sat down, looking nervously between them. _They haven't met me before, and Callie had Arizona before, I hope they like me,_ I thought to myself as the wedding caterer calls for everyone to eat and we all stand to serve ourselves.

I sit back down after getting food. Callie comes over and kisses me before saying, "I am going to go catch up with some of my old coworkers who came. I'll be back." She takes her plate and walks over to another table. I smile as I begin eating. A couple minutes later, Meredith and her husband, Derek, come and sit back down at our table. I smile at them as I continue eating, nervous talking to the people who have known and loved Callie much longer than I have. The friends who knew Arizona. _Would they constantly compare me to her?_ I think to myself as I shove a piece of steak into my mouth.

"Callie has talked a lot about you," Derek says. "She called Meredith the day she met you and raved on and on about how she met this girl who brought her foster daughter in and she wanted to do therapy with you just so she could get to know you."

"I thought it was odd that she just randomly offered to do physical therapy on my shoulder," I chuckle, taking a sip of water to desperately try and gulp down the nervousness in my voice.

"You're nervous talking to us, aren't you?" Meredith asks.

"A little," I say, swallowing hard. "You guys have just known Callie for so long and you knew Arizona, and I guess I'm just worried that you guys will tell Callie to run for the hills or that I won't live up to your expectations." I quickly shove another piece of steak in my mouth, realizing I just spewed out all of what I was thinking. I feel my cheeks and ears grow hot in embarrassment and I avoid eye contact with Meredith and Derek.

"Hey," Meredith softly says and I slowly look up at her. Her expression is soft as she stands and moves to sit next to me. "Callie changed when Arizona died. She blamed herself for her death and she withdrew from everyone. I first worried that she would do something to herself, but once I realized she was okay, I thought that she would never open herself up to someone else again. She, someone who craves the love of a soulmate and someone who desperately wants to be a mom, would wind up alone because she can't open up again after Arizona. And my heart broke for her, even if she was a thousand miles away in Tennessee. But when she met you, it was like she was drowning and you saved her. The night she called me about you was the first I had heard from her in months. You brought back the Callie I knew and loved before and during Arizona. And that's not something I thought could happen. So already, I knew you had to be a pretty awesome person. And the more she talked about you, the more I approved of you. I know this is the first interaction we've ever really had, but you saved our Callie and then married her, so you're now a part of this family. And we're a family that always has each other's backs. If you ever need anything, we'll be there. I'm sure you have people, but now, we can be your people too."

I study Meredith's expression. Her eyes look so genuine. I immediately felt safe talking to her. I knew I could trust her. "Thank you," I say, giving Meredith a smile. She nods and hugs me.

I pull away as I feel a hand on my back. I look up and see it's Callie. "I see you're making friends with one of my best friends," Callie says as she rubs my back.

"I was just telling her that she's now a part of our family and that there's no turning back now," Meredith chuckles as she smiles at me. I return the smile as I look back up at Callie.

"What can I tell you, we're tight back at Grey Sloan," Callie smiles. She looks back toward the dance floor, currently full with people chatting. "You ready to go be social?" she asks. I nod as the three of us make our way toward the crowd.

After about an hour of everyone eating and mingling, the DJ makes the announcement for us to have the first dance. Callie and I make our way to the dance floor and we dance to "Bless the Broken Road". There couldn't have been a more perfect song for us at our wedding. It had been a very broken road, one full of hardship and heartbreak that both of us had been down. But it lead us to each other, and neither of us could be happier.

After the dance, we slice the cake. Though I see the mischievous glint in Callie's eye, she thankfully doesn't shove it into my face, even if it was to the disappointment of the guests. The guests eat their cake before the DJ plays some songs for the guests to dance to. We toss our bouquets and then, after reviewing caregiving stuff for Avary to stay with Paige, we head to Callie's car to head to our honeymoon. As the car drives away I stare at the woman who is now my wife. I smile blissfully as lean over to kiss her cheek thinking, _I'm married! I'm officially Aviana Torres!_


	18. Chapter 18

_**Chapter 18**_

It has been a month since Callie and I got married and since coming home from our honeymoon, our primary focus has been finalizing Avary's adoption. We asked for the date to be pushed until June, as then Avary would be done with school and it would give time to finalize everything with my name change and officially adding Callie as the second adoptive parent. And so far, things were looking great!

It is a Monday morning. Callie has taken Avary to school and now we sit in bed drinking coffee as we watch TV. Suddenly, I hear my phone ring as Callie pauses the TV and I answer the phone. "Hello?" I say into the phone.

"Hello Aviana, it's Gloria," the voice on the other end answers. "How are you today?"

"I'm good, how about you?" I answer.

"I'm doing well," Gloria replies. I hear her sigh as she says, "I was wondering if you and Callie could come down to Bruce's office today to discuss somethings. As soon as you can."

"Is this about finalizing an adoption date?" I ask hopeful.

Gloria pauses. "We'll talk about it when you both get here." Gloria hangs up the phone as I stare at it confused. I feel worry rise up. _I don't have a good feeling about this,_ I think.

"What was that about?" Callie asks.

"I'm not sure," I answer. "Other than Gloria wants us to meet with her and our adoption attorney about something. As soon as possible." Callie looks at me worried as I return her worried look. We quickly get up and change into more professional clothing and drive down to the attorney's office. We arrive and are lead to a conference room with Gloria and Bruce already seated around a table. Feeling the tension in the room, Callie and I glance worriedly at each other as we take a seat.

"We have had something come up in Avary's case," Bruce says regrettably. I take Callie's hand in worry as he continues, "A second cousin has come into the picture wanting Avary."

Callie and I look at each other shocked. I look at Gloria, fear in my voice, "I thought you told us you hadn't found anyone when you did the diligent search!"

"I didn't," Gloria says. "They had come up and I had contacted them about Avary, but they didn't want her at the time. But I guess they found out some information about the case and changed their minds." Gloria looks down almost shamefully as I begin to feel nauseous.

Callie leans forward as she asks, "What kind of information?"

Bruce sighs. "That she was being adopted by a lesbian couple," he answers.

I feel my heart drop and I squeeze Callie's hand. I feel my voice strain as I ask, "They can't discriminate against us because of our sexuality! She's been ours for over a year now! You can't just take her from us for something as stupid as that!"

Bruce nods his head, "I know that. But we also can't discriminate against them for the reason they decide they want Avary. And because they're biological family, it makes this no longer a cut and dry case."

"Can't the fact that they originally said no be taken into account and questioned?" Callie asks defensively.

Gloria sighs, "It honestly depends on the judge and what she thinks. Some will think things through and take everything into account. Others are too consumed at keeping biological family together that they don't really care."

"So what happens now?" Callie asks.

"We have court in a little over a week," Gloria answers. "In that time, we are required to do a home study of the cousin's home. If they don't check out, then we will present that to the judge and we should be okay to continue with the adoption as is. If they have a good home study, then the judge will have to take all the information and decide who gets to adopt her."

"This was just like with Maya and Lavon," I mutter to myself as I feel myself go numb. I know how this ends. And it doesn't look good.

"You are not required to do anything before court," Bruce adds. "You don't even have to bring Avary to court, just show up. And we'll see you then." Gloria and Bruce walk us out of the conference room and Callie and I walk to the car in silence. Though Bruce and Gloria didn't give us any specific reason to be concerned, this isn't my first rodeo. I know how the state of Florida runs. I have been through this before. And the odds are not in our favor.


	19. Chapter 19

_**Chapter 19**_

It's May 21. Yesterday, Avary turned five. We celebrated with her and threw a birthday party with our friends. Even Meredith and Derek came down from Seattle with their three kids since their eldest daughter is about Avary's age. The party was wonderful and Avary was so happy. Now, today's the day that decides her fate.

Callie and I walk up to the court house. Paige, Tara, and Chloe meet us on the front steps, supporting us on this difficult day. We sigh as we walk into the court house and walk up the stairs into the court room.

About ten minutes of us getting to the court room, the presiding officer calls for us to rise as the judge walks in. I immediately recognize her as my heart sinks. I turn to Callie, "That's Judge Morris. She was the judge for Maya and Lavon's case."

"Where she ruled to keep family together?" Callie asks with worry as we are told to be seated. I nod anxiously as I feel my stomach flip. _This isn't good, this isn't good, This. Is. Not. Good._

After a couple of cases before us, Judge Morris calls our case forward and I finally get a good look at the cousin and her husband as they glare at us. They look like your stereotypical rich white family. The kind you expect to do this sort of thing. The last person I would want raising my daughter. But unfortunately, Gloria said that they cleared their home study. Now, a battle is on our hands.

"Tell me about this case," Judge Morris asks Bruce.

"Your honor, the child in question is Avary Harris," Bruce begins. "She was orphaned after her parents were killed in the crash of American Airlines Flight 437. The child was placed in the care of Mrs. Torres and eventually Dr. Torres. A diligent search was done, bringing up no results of a family member wanting to take the child in at the time. Once the diligent search was filed, Dr. and Mrs. Torres have pursued adoption."

"What is the relation of the child to Mrs. Torres?" Judge Morris asks.

"The child was also involved in the crash that claimed her parents' life, resulting in the loss of her leg. The child was found and rescued from the plane by Mrs. Torres's friend who wanted to adopt her. The friend was also injured in the crash and during that time, Mrs. Torres had custody of the child. After the death of the friend, Mrs. Torres began pursuing the adoption of the child."

"And how long has the child been in the care of Mrs. Torres?"

"Over a year, Your Honor."

"And the child is thriving?"

"She is. She formed a bond quickly to both Dr. and Mrs. Torres. Dr. Torres was the child's doctor before forming a relationship with Mrs. Torres. As an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Torres has not only been a second caregiver to the child, but also aided in the speedy recovery and transition to a prosthetic leg after the child's amputation."

Judge Morris nods as she looks at the cousin and asks, "Now, tell me about this cousin that is also pursuing adoption."

Bruce clears his throat, "Jennifer Harris and her husband were initially contacted during the diligent search, but they turned down the opportunity to take the child into their custody. They only began pursuing adoption a week ago."

"And have they cleared a background check and home study?" Judge Morris asks.

"Yes, Your Honor," Bruce replies.

Judge Morris looks at the cousin. She sternly asks, "Are you truly willing to take this child in as your own? To raise her as your own, to treat her as your own, give her an inheritance as your own, for the rest of her childhood?" I feel my heart begin to race.

"Yes, Your Honor," the cousin replies. My heart sinks.

"Then, for the sake of keeping family together," Judge Morris begins, "I rule we move the child into her cousin's home and allow them to begin the process of adoption." The judge slams her gavel and I become completely numb at the sound. I don't feel Callie take my hand or wrap her arm around me as we walk out. I don't hear Gloria tell us that Avary would be moved the following day or the words of sympathy coming from Paige or Chloe. I keep a blank expression as we slowly walk out to the car, not saying a word.

We immediately drive to pick Avary up from school. We take her to go get ice cream and play at the park. After going to dinner, we arrive home and sit Avary down in the living room. Callie emotionally tells her that she would be leaving to go live with her cousin. I don't feel pain as I hear Avary question why or beg to stay with us. I simply hug her as she throws her arms around me and cries.

The next day we keep Avary from school and Callie takes off work. At five that evening, Gloria would be there to pick Avary up and take her away. We spend as much time with her as we can, even asking her to help pack her things to allow for more time with her. We play games, go swimming in the pool, and watch a movie together. Finally, the doorbell rings and Callie opens it, sadly greeting Gloria. I keep a blank expression as I watch her walk in and take Avary's things out to her car. Finally, she comes back for Avary. I bend down and hug Avary, kissing her on her cheek. She hugs Callie, and I see a tear trickle down her face as Callie tells her goodbye. Gently, Gloria grabs Avary's hand as she calls out, "Mommy! Mama!" My heart shatters and I collapse to the floor.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Chapter 20**_

It's June 9. Today was supposed to be a happy day. Today was supposed to be the day Callie and I legally become mothers. Instead, I am standing in a blank bedroom, devoid of the child-like happiness that once inhabited this room. Without a sister allowed to have sleepovers with me, or a daughter to sleep there, the room has become a vacant shell of what it once was.

I stand in the room, staring at the purple wooden "A" hanging above the bed. An "A" that once stood for Abriella, and an "A" that eventually stood for Avary. Now, it's just a decoration hanging over the bed of a room in my house.

I clutch a bottle of liquor in one hand as I bring it to my lips and gulp the substance. Callie was called into work today. She tried her best to get out of it, to be with me through this challenging day, but I insisted that she go. It would be better this way, she doesn't need to see me falling apart.

I clutch the letter in my hand as I read it over one last time. It would be the last words my wife would ever hear, or in this case read, from me. I had been through the trauma of losing siblings to the system. I had been through a plane crash and the death of two of my best friends. I lost my only remaining sister and parents due to the gender of the person I decided to marry. And now, I've lost my daughter to the same system that took my siblings. And I can no longer bear the weight. I was done.

I sit the letter on the bare bed as I walk over to the white desk and pick up a bottle of prescription pain killers, the medicine they gave me to help with my shoulder. I put the remaining pills in my mouth and chase them down with the liquor. I know it wouldn't be too much longer now, and I look at my watch to see that Callie would be home in a little less than an hour. I feel a slight pang of regret for what I was doing to her, but it is quickly smothered by the overwhelming pain I have been feeling. I slowly begin to feel dizzy as I drop the bottle of alcohol onto the floor, the clear substance spilling onto the floor. My vision slowly becomes dark as I collapse to the floor. I feel the pain begin to fade away as my heartbeat begins to slow and my breaths become farther and farther apart. Finally, almost feeling weightless, I let go, breathing my last breath and feeling my heart become still.

 _I feel weightless, completely free of pain as a warm feeling rushes over me. I slowly open my eyes, confused as I see the same familiar ceiling in the room I was just in. I look around, realizing that it_ is _the same room. I finally look down and see that I'm hovering over my body._ So I am dead, _I think to myself._ This must be some sort of limbo thing.

 _Suddenly, I hear the door open and my heart sinks._ Callie's home, _I think to myself. "Av, I'm home!" I hear her call out. I hear Sadie's nails scrape the floor as she walks to greet Callie. "Hey, Sadie," I hear Callie say, "Do you know where your mother is?" Sadie just whines as Callie yells, "Aviana?" I hear footsteps growing fainter as she walks toward the direction of the kitchen. "Aviana?!" I hear her call, a little more anxious now. I hear footsteps come closer, seeing Callie walk past the blank bedroom as she walks toward our bedroom. I hear them stop, before turning and walking back. Callie opens the door and gasps. "Aviana!" she yells as she rushes to me, stopping as she kicks the liquor bottle. She glances back at it, and even I can hear her breaths quicken. She begins to kneel down beside me when she notices the empty bottle of pills a few feet away. "No," Callie mutters as she picks up the bottle. "There were still several pills in that bottle, I noticed them this morning!" She turns and kneels down next to me, pressing her fingers against my neck. "No, no, NO!" Callie screams as she quickly pulls out her phone and dials 911. She puts the phone on speaker as she clasps her hands and begins pounding on my chest. "This isn't happening! Come on, Av, come back to me!" Emotion is thick in her voice as she pauses compressions to breathe into my mouth. I notice tears trickling down her face as she continues compressions and screams, "I'm not losing you too!" I feel a pang of regret at those words._ What have I done?

" _911, what's your emergency?" the dispatcher finally says._

" _I need an ambulance!" Callie screams. "My wife doesn't have a heartbeat and she's not breathing!"_

" _Have you checked her pulse?" the dispatcher asks. "Are you sure she doesn't have a heartbeat?"_

" _I'm a doctor!" Callie shouts. "I know what I'm doing! I just need to get her to a hospital! I think she overdosed."_

" _We're sending an ambulance," the dispatcher responds. "Keep doing what you're doing."_

" _Thank you," Callie chokes as she pauses compressions again to breathe air into my lungs._ I have to go back, _I think to myself as I throw myself onto my body in an attempt to go back but with no success. "Please Av, please don't leave me!" Callie cries as she continues CPR. She stops momentarily as she checks my pulse. "Dammit!" she yells as she locks her hands and begins compressions again. "I shouldn't have gone to work, I should have stayed, why didn't you make my stay?!" Callie cries and I feel my heart shatter._

" _Don't blame yourself, Callie!" I yell, but I know she can't hear me. I feel myself begin to be pulled away as everything grows dark._ No, I can't leave her, don't take me! _I scream as I try to pull away from the force that's pulling me into the darkness. But it's no use, and after a few more seconds, everything goes black._

I awake slowly to the steady beeping of a heart monitor. My head pounds as the light shines into my eyes. _Am I…alive?_ I question to myself as I slowly bring a heavy hand to my face and touch it. _Yep, definitely alive_. I slowly open my eyes, trying to get adjusted to the light. The white walls and the rails on the bed I'm laying on confirm I'm in a hospital. I look over and see Callie sleeping in a chair, leaning her head against the railing, using her crossed arms as a pillow. I notice that one of her hands is holding one of mine. I start to squeeze it but stop myself. _I can only imagine the pain I caused her,_ I think to myself. _What right do I have for her to still be here?_ I try to adjust to a more comfortable position, but my movement shakes the bed. Callie groans as she lifts her head and opens her eyes, her brown ones meeting mine.

Her face lights up as she says, "Oh my God! You're awake!" She stands up and wraps her arms around me, kissing the top of my head as she strokes my hair. I hear a sob escape from her mouth as she says, "I didn't think I would ever see you awake again." I feel a pang in my chest of regret at those words. In the chair I notice the letter I left for her and I am overwhelmed by shame.

I shake my head, "I am so, so sorry Callie." I feel her pull away but I am too ashamed to look at her. I stare at my sheets, my thumb rubbing the seam.

"You should be," Callie says sternly. Her voice waivers as she adds, "Do you understand the _hell_ I've been through the past two days? Coming home and finding you on the ground with an empty bottle of pills and a bottle of liquor on the floor beside you?! Having to perform CPR while I desperately waited for an ambulance?! Waiting at your bedside for you to wake up even though I know you might not?! Praying to God that you would?! Do you have any freaking idea what that's like?!" She's practically shouting at me as she turns away, tears falling down her face. "I found you dead, Aviana. You were dead when I found you on the floor. You weren't breathing, you didn't have a pulse, you were _dead_! I have never been so scared in my life…how _dare_ you try to kill yourself? How _dare_ you do that to me?!" Callie turns her back to me as she adds, "I have been cheated on before, and I never felt more hurt and betrayed then when I read your letter, that you willingly and purposely tried to leave me. You know I've been a widow before. You _know_ that I lost Arizona. And you were willing for me to go through the pain of losing yet another wife."

"Then why didn't you leave me?" I ask, and I see Callie almost flinch. "Why didn't you run off and never look back? It's not like you have a kid to hold you back. So why didn't you run?"

"Because I love you!" Callie shouts. I finally look up at her as she continues, "Because when I made those wedding vows, I meant them! Because there is no where I would rather be than with you! Because I can't live without you!" Callie sobs as she stares at me. My heart aches as I stare back at her, her brown eyes red with tears. I feel a tear escape mine as I reach out to her and she leans in, hugging me. I hold her as tight as I possibly can, not wanting to ever let her go.

"I love you so much Callie," I say, my voice thick with emotion. "I know I definitely haven't shown that to you lately, but I love you with all of my heart. I know I haven't been a good wife to you and I have been so distant with everything that's happened…and I just thought that I was dragging you down into my pain with me and that you would be better off without me. I'm so, so sorry I've hurt you so deeply."

"Look at me," Callie says as she pulls away, placing a gentle hand on my cheek. "I know you're hurting. You have been through so much in the past year, more than any human being should have to handle. You have reminders everywhere of what's happened that you can't get away from; the scar on your shoulder from your surgery, the empty bedroom in the house. The 'incomplete' on a case that you can never let go of. It doesn't mean you're a bad wife because you're hurting. But the thing about marriage is that you don't have to hurt alone. I promised you on our wedding day that I would support you and stand with you no matter what. And I intend to keep that promise. But you have to let me. You have to lean on me. You have to talk to me. There is nothing that would scare me off, nothing that I would find too daunting. I'm not going anywhere, in fact, I want to be there. But you have to let me be." I study her face, her expression loving and protective. She rubs her thumb across my cheek as I nod. She smiles as she presses her lips against my forehead. She looks back at me and says, "I love you more than anything in this world, Av. We'll get through this." She slowly climbs into the bed with me, wrapping her arm around me as her other hand pulls my head to her chest where I can hear her heartbeat. For the first time in a month, I feel secure as I rest in her arms, her steady heartbeat comforting and reassuring. Slowly, I feel myself drift back to sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

_**Chapter 21**_

It has been a few months since I left the hospital. Though I'm certainly not 100%, I have been doing better with Callie's help. She has been forcing me to talk, and though I found it annoying at first, I have realized how much it's helped me. She has also shared stuff with me as well, knowing that me feeling needed is also helpful to me. She remains completely understanding and supportive, and for that, I am grateful.

It's September now. It's been over a year since the investigation into the crash of Flight 437 was marked as unsolved. While Chuck and Chloe don't seem to think there is any reason to be found for the cause of the crash, I know with everything in me that there's something there, some reason to why that plane went down. Though all of my research has been inconclusive, I refuse to give up on the case.

It's a Thursday evening. I anxiously wait for Callie to come home, as she called before leaving work to tell me she had a surprise for me. Though I try to sit still long enough to watch a movie, my excitement causes me to get up and pace, checking the windows for her car every few minutes. Finally, at around 7, her car pulls into the driveway. She walks in the door, carrying to-go boxes from my favorite sushi restaurant. Her purse is full of papers as she yells, "Who wants sushi?" I smile at her and kiss her as she carries her purse and food into the kitchen, setting it down on the kitchen table.

"Was the sushi my surprise?" I ask curiously as I sit down and open my box of sushi.

"Part of it," Callie says with a wink. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about." She pulls out a huge folder from her purse and sets it in front of me.

"What is this?" I ask after taking bite of sushi.

"They're sperm donors," Callie answers. I look up at her as she says, "I know your heart aches to be a mom again, I know mine does. And I know it hasn't even been six months since we lost Avary, but I wanted to see if you were ready to start going down that avenue? To maybe try and start a family again?" Callie studies my face anxiously.

"Are you kidding?" I say with a smile. "There's nothing I'd want more." Callie smiles back, breathing a sigh of relief as I lean in and kiss her. "Thank you," I whisper as I feel tears prick the back of my eyes.

Callie pulls away as she says, "Before it gets too emotional in here, let's look at some of our options." She smiles as she opens the folder and splits the stack in two as we both review the options. We spend the rest of the night looking at the available donors, quickly narrowing our options. Finally, we settle on a dark haired, brown eyed man, with light olive skin and a clean health and criminal record.

Callie and I kiss to congratulate finding our donor. I pull away and ask, "So who's going to carry the baby?"

Callie smiles as she looks at me. "I was thinking you could, if you want," she says. "I know how much you want to be pregnant, and the guy kind of looks like me anyway, so it would probably be the closest thing to a combination of the two of us if you carry. What do you think?"

"I'd love to," I say as I kiss her again.

"Let's schedule an appointment in the morning then," Callie says as she slides down in the bed, pulling me close. I sigh as I lay my head on her chest and slowly begin to drift off. _Perhaps everything is finally righting itself._


	22. Chapter 22

_**Chapter 22**_

A month has past since we decided to get a sperm donor, and needless to say, we've been busy! As to ensure the best likelihood of conception, I have been to a fertility specialist to make sure we find the perfect time to inseminate. And because my parents had fertility issues, extra precautions have been taken to help increase my chances of pregnancy. This has meant daily blood work, hormone prescriptions, and fertility shots. Callie has been there through all of it, supporting me both emotionally and physically. Sometimes, it pays to marry a doctor.

Today is the day of my first insemination. The procedure is taking place in the hospital Callie works at. Callie is there, holding my hand through the whole procedure. It was uncomfortable, but painless and within thirty minutes, I was allowed to leave. I kiss Callie goodbye as she heads to work and I head to the NTSB Southeast Region headquarters. I need to investigate that rudder's servo valve one last time.

I arrive at headquarters and find the saved parts of the 767. I find the servo valve and begin to examine it. I notice the slide responsible for allowing hydraulic fluid to flow through the valve and move the rudder is loose. I immediately call Chuck and Chloe and have them come down to headquarters.

"This better be good, Aviana," Chuck says as he and Chloe sit down at the table in the lab.

"Look," I say as I move the slide in the servo valve. "See how loose that is? That means air could get into the valve. What if the freezing temperatures of the altitude the plane was flying at and the wind allowed for the hydraulic fluid to freeze, therefore causing the rudder to stop moving?"

Chuck shakes his head. "That would almost impossible. The wind would have to be blowing in the direction the plane is going and strong enough to push itself to and in the servo valve. It would have to be storm force winds blowing in the same direction as the plane."

"But the plane _was_ flying in a storm," Chloe says as she looks over the weather patterns. "A snow storm to be exact. And look, the wind _was_ __blowing in the same direction as the plane. The pilots mentioned on the tape how they felt the wind was pushing the plane."

"So it could have caused the rudder to stop," I say anxiously.

"And with each wind gust," Chloe adds, "the wind would have pushed the wing of the plane further into the air. And with the pilots unable to adjust the rudder, the plane fell out of the sky."

"We'd have to test it," Chuck says, clearly unconvinced. He smiles before adding, "But you girls may be onto something."

"Let's do it," I say with a smile.

We immediately tall our technicians and they place the valve in a test box. We simulate the scenario, mimicking the weather of the night of the crash. We watch anxiously as the slide moves back and forth until finally, it stops. The technicians confirm that the fluid is frozen. Chloe puts an arm around my shoulder as she says, "We did it!" I have never felt such relief in my life.


	23. Chapter 23

_**Chapter 23**_

It's been two years since the fateful crash of American Airlines Flight 437. A lot has changed in the past two years, but I am proud of the place I am today. Today, I stand in a conference room with the NTSB board, prepared to present the finished investigation of Flight 437. I sigh, and I begin:

 _As predicted, the flight was going very smoothly. During the flight, I would occasionally get up and check and see what Jacob and Morganne were up to. Jacob spent most of his time reading or working on his computer. Morganne, when she wasn't sleeping, spent a lot of time talking to the flight attendant. "You won't believe this," she told me on my first trip over to talk to her. "The flight attendant is the same guy that was on my flights I went on as a kid! What are the odds?"_

" _That's crazy!" I replied. "But I'm glad you at least have someone to talk to since we were placed so far apart."_

" _This is true," she said. "But I'm used to flying by myself, so it's no biggie. And I'm pretty sure Jacob doesn't mind," she ended with a laugh._

" _You're right," I replied laughing._

" _Well," Morganne began, "you should probably head back to your seat with Danielle. If you don't get a chance to come back over and chat, I'll see you when we land."_

" _Okie dokie," I said with a smile. I walked back over to my seat to find that Danielle had fallen asleep. I carefully slipped past her and sat down, and since I had no one to talk to, I too let myself drift off._

"The flight was going very smoothly," I begin, "despite the pilots having accidently putting the wrong coordinates into the GPS. At this point in the flight, the pilots nor the passengers knew that the plane was off course. Unbeknownst to them, the plane was not only flying over the mountains, but it was flying into a perfect snow storm."

 _When I woke up, we were about an hour and a half away from landing at Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. There, we would have a two-hour layover before hopping on another plane to head to Jacksonville. Danielle was still asleep, so I quietly opened my window to look outside. It had gotten dark, and the night sky dimmed by the clouds above us. I noticed small white particles fly past the window._ Snow? _I asked myself._ Where on earth would it be snowing in April? _I looked down, and barely visible are the white peaks of mountains._ We aren't supposed to be flying over mountains, _I thought concerned._ The nearest large mountain range is north of where our flight plan was online.

 _I nudged Danielle, who groaned slightly. "Wake up," I said gently. "I think we're off our flight path."_

 _Danielle slowly opened her eyes and looked out the window. She noticed the mountains and shook her head. "There are mountains in Tennessee, Av," she mumbled. "We're fine. Don't be so paranoid." She laid her head back down._

" _But these mountains are too big for the ones I saw on the flight path," I said concerned. But Danielle ignored me as she attempted to fall back to sleep. I sighed and continued to look out the window. Maybe there would be some clue to give me a piece of mind; that we were on our correct flight path._

 _Suddenly, the intercom crackled to life as one of the pilots began to talk. "This is your captain speaking. We have been slightly delayed from getting to our destination. Don't worry, my copilot and I have everything under control, and we will be back on track in just a few minutes. Thank you for your patience."_

 _Danielle opened her eyes and looked over at me. I gave her a smirk and said, "Maybe you should give the NTSB investigator a little bit more credit?" She looked away and nodded quickly, before quietly laughing. I felt the plane begin to turn before I add, "But good news is, your handy dandy NTSB investigator also knows that this is probably no biggie. They may have simply put the wrong coordinates in, and worst-case scenario, they have to manually drive the plane the rest of the way to Charlotte." I gave her a wink as I then added, "I may have worked on a couple of these cases before. Only a handful have turned out to be bad."_

"About an hour and a half before the plane should have landed in North Carolina," I add, "the pilots realize the mistake in the coordinates. They announce to the passengers of the delay, being calm as to not alarm them. At the time, the pilots had nothing to worry about, so the passengers shouldn't have been worried."

 _No sooner did those words leave my mouth that the plane began to experience turbulence. It lasted for a couple of seconds, before it calmed again. I took a look outside. "It was probably just some wind from this snow storm," I said aloud. I tightened my seat belt as I glanced over at Danielle. "Think I should go check on the others?" I asked, sensing her slightly worried body language. She nodded, as I then asked, "Will you be ok here?" She nodded again, but before I could undo my seat belt, the plane was rocked with another gust of wind, the plane resting at a sharper angle, seemingly too sharp for a turn. Danielle clutched the arm of her seat, and I noticed that her seat belt wasn't on. I took a deep breath and said, "I'll go check on them as soon as this turbulence dies down a bit." She nodded as I said, "You maybe should put your seat belt-"_

"At this point, the plane is turning toward its original destination," I say. "The plane begins to be hit by the freezing wind, pushing the plane from behind. The passengers just feel it as turbulence, but the wind is slowly pushing the left wing into the air, too high for a simple turn. And because of the loose slide in the servo valve, the wind was able to get to and freeze the hydraulic fluid. This kept the tilted rudder in place, creating the inability for the pilots to correct the rudder."

 _The plane was rocked by yet another gust of wind. I felt it completely turn on its side before beginning to plummet to the ground, spinning on its way down. Danielle, not having her seat belt on, started to fling to the back of the plane, but I grabbed her hand just before she went out of reach. "Danielle, don't let go!" I screamed. The passengers were in total panic, several flying toward the back of the plane as we descended. I knew that if the pilots didn't pull us out of this spiraling fall, we would be dead on impact. I clutched Danielle's hand tighter, praying silently as my heart pounded in my chest._

 _The plane was hit with yet another wind gust as we descended, and I felt my shoulder pop out of socket. I yelped in pain, instinctively letting go of Danielle's hand briefly before realizing what I did. "No!" I screamed as Danielle was thrown to the back of the plane. With nothing to keep her in place, I knew she would be thrown all around the plane, and if we survived, internal injuries could be a serious problem. I felt a tear trickle down my face before I even noticed I was crying. Every important person flashed in my mind's eye as I was engulfed by memories. All of my family, all of my friends, all the good times I've had, all the bad times I struggled through. Tears continued to fall as we got closer and closer to those mountains. I squeezed my eyes shut as I thought,_ This is it. We're going to die.

"The wind eventually pushed the wing until the plane was sitting perpendicular to the ground," I sigh as I continue. "The plane rolled over and began spiraling towards the ground. This is when the passengers begin to panic, and understandably so."

 _Finally, the plane righted itself, and the pilots got the plane back under control. I glanced outside, and before I could breathe a sigh of relief, I saw mountains right outside the window. I felt the pilots trying to make the plane climb, but it was no use. I felt a sudden jerk of the plane, before I felt the impact of the 767's left wing against the side of the mountain, my head flew back against my seat, and everything went black._

"Finally," say, taking a breath as I draw to the closure of my presentation, "due to the pressure caused by the pilots to desperately pull the plane out of the death spiral, the fluid melts and the rudder regains function. Unfortunately, due to the amount of time the pilots took to right the plane, the plane was in the mountains when it leveled. The pilots tried to pull the plane up, but the left wing hit the side of a mountain, ripping the wing off and ultimately causing the crash." I take a breath, feeling every memory from that crash wash over me. From finding Danielle and Avary, to attempting to have my shoulder popped back into socket, to finding Morganne, to watching Danielle struggle for her life, and finally, being rescued. I look back up at the board before me, concluding, "As a trained investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board and a survivor of the crash of American Airlines Flight 437, I confirm these statements as fact. Thank you." I sit down in my seat as the room applauds me and I see every person in that room stand, giving me a standing ovation. I feel overwhelmed with emotion but push tears back as the applause ends and everyone takes their seats.

"So, what resolution would you like to see done?" a board member asks.

"The lose servo valve ended up being an error, and that the valve in the individual plane involved in the 437 crash was a faulty valve. They had put a slide meant for a Boeing 737 into this valve for a 767 plane. Since this is something that could go totally unnoticed unless the perfect conditions occur, I would like a thorough inspection of the valves for any plane that uses the Boeing 767 servo valve model. I want stricter policies placed on the manufacturer to reduce the risk of another faulty valve being made."

The board member nods, "We'll see to it then." He gives me a smile as he closes the meeting.

As the board members walk out, I pull Chuck aside and ask, "May I speak with you for a moment?"

"Sure," Chuck says. "You did a very good presentation today."

"Thank you," I say. I sigh, before looking him in the eye and saying, "Chuck, I quit."

"Why?" Chuck asks surprised.

I sigh, "I have loved working here, and I have loved investigating. But this investigation has reminded me of what is truly important in life. Callie can support us with her income, and I need to just be home with my family. And I think I need this chapter to close along with Flight 437. It's a chapter I don't want to leave open, and one I certainly don't want to revisit. So, I need to quit."

Chuck nods understandingly. "Well you take care of yourself, okay?" he says with a smile and a pat on the shoulder.

"You too," I say back smiling. I make my way to the elevator and walk out of the building. It's finally over. The chapter has closed on this season in my life, and I feel a burden fall from my shoulders as I see Callie leaning against her car waiting for me. I lean in to kiss her, pressing my lips passionately against hers, before pulling away as I feel strong kicks from inside my belly. I chuckle as Callie bends down to my pregnant belly and says in a playful stern voice, "Arizona Danielle Torres, you better not be interrupting us again! We've talked about this!"

"She never listens, does she?" I say as I look down at my wife as she rubs my belly. "We're going to be in for a world of trouble if she already doesn't listen!"

"But she'll be worth it, won't you Zo?" Callie coos as she kisses my belly. She stands up and kisses me again, this one uninterrupted by the baby in my womb. She looks at me and asks, "You ready?"

I glance back at the building, the one I have worked at for the past four years. I turn back to Callie and nod, "Yeah, let's go home."

 _ **The End**_


End file.
